Matchmakers
by Hannahfour
Summary: Guthrie and Heidi play matchmakers as they try to find a girlfriend for Crane.
1. Chapter 1

I can't believe I'm in the principal's office again! This makes the third time this week. Actually, I'm not _in_ his office yet, I'm sitting on the bench outside his door waiting to be called in. I hate this bench. The bench is in the school's office and I can see the secretary sitting at her desk from here. She's talking on the phone and I hope she's not talking to someone at my house. She keeps glancing at me so I think she might be.

The secretary is young and pretty. She's probably Hannah's age, and I don't know how old Hannah is, but Hannah's young and pretty too. Hannah reminds me of Snow White. Her skin is a pretty white, not a pale white, and her lips are red and she always smells like pretty flowers. I know about the princesses because when I was really little either Adam, or Crane, bought me princess books and read them to me at bedtime. I still have them, but I don't read them anymore unless I want to bug Brian. When he tucks me in he usually tells me a story about himself or my brothers when they were younger. But if I want to bug him, I make him read a princess book to me. He doesn't like my princess books. He says the stories are dumb, but he reads them if I make him. Then I watch him glare at the book while he reads it and I laugh. I have three princess books. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. The secretary reminds me of Cinderella.

She has long blond hair and I think her eyes are blue. She's tall and her smile is really pretty. Her name even sounds like a princess name. It's Isabella. Only we're not supposed to call her that at school. We're supposed to call her Ms. Trent, but we only call her that in front of the principal, Mr. Brick or our teachers. If they're not around we call her by her first name and she doesn't mind. She smiles at me now while she hangs up the phone. I smile back. I remember when she went out with Brian once. That was a couple years ago. They never went out again. Brian said something about her not being his type. I don't know what that means, all I know is they never went out again. I get startled when Mr. Brick opens the door to his office.

"Come in Heidi."

I walk in and sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He sits in his chair and stares at me.

"I hear you were cheating on your math test."

He keeps staring at me like he's waiting for me to say something, but I don't know what he wants me to say. Math is the subject I hate the most. I just don't understand multiplying.

"Were you cheating?" He asks.

Hmm. He's going to let me answer that? "No," I say as I stare right back at him.

"No?"

"Yep." If he's gonna ask, why would I say yes. If I say yes, I'll get in trouble for sure. If I say no, he might believe me and then I won't get in trouble.

"Ms. Wilson said she saw you peeking at your neighbor's paper. She also said she gave you a warning to keep your eyes on your own paper."

"And then I did."

"She was very surprised when you turned your paper in and she saw your answers were the exact same ones as your neighbor, Denise's."

Denis always gets good grades. She's my best friend and she's really smart. "But Denise got all her answers right, didn't she? Isn't that good if I got all the answers right? That means I learned the math. Right?"

"Yes, Denise's answers were all correct. The problem is, she had a different test than yours." He stares at me.

I glare at him. "What do you mean her test was _different_?"

"Ms. Wilson gave out different tests to everybody. She thought some of you were cheating during math tests, so she decided to make four different tests. It turns out she was right, some of you were cheating."

"But how does she know?" I don't get it.

"The math problems were different. Denise's problems were different than the ones on your paper."

"But that's not fair!" I yell and I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. "Ms. Wilson cheated! She should've told us she passed out different tests! She tricked us!"

"Calm down! You will not yell in my office!"

"You're yelling!" I stand up and ask, "how come _you_ get to yell in your office, but I don't?"

He looks very mad now. His face is red and he yells, "sit down!"

I keep glaring at him but I sit down while I do it.

"You are not going to talk to me like that. You cheated and you got caught! I told you yesterday if you got sent to the office one more time this week I would call home and have someone come get you. By the way, did you bring back the note I gave you yesterday? I told you to bring it back to me today and have it signed by Adam."

"What note?" I ask. I know what note he's talking about, but I didn't give it to Adam.

"What do you mean, _what note_?" He stands up now and points his finger at me. I smile a little because he looks so funny. He's a tiny bit fat and his shirt is untucked from his pants a little bit. His face is all red and a little sweaty and his eyes look really mad. Really mad. "What's so funny?!"

Then I laugh out loud. "You are. You look funny."

"You think this is funny?!"

"No, I think you _look_ kind of funny. Your face is all red and kind of sweaty. Your shirt is untucked a little too and that looks really funny."

He looks down at his shirt and then looks at me. "Go wait out there on the bench," he says pointing to his door. I walk to the bench and he follows me and says, "Ms. Trent, call Adam McFadden and have him come pick Heidi up. When he gets here I want to talk to him."

I sit down on the bench and say, "Adam's not home." I smile at Mr. Brick. "He's helping Mr. Miller on his ranch."

"Ms. Trent, call any of the McFadden adults."

"Brian's also helping Mr. Miller, Hannah's working at Marie's and I don't think Crane will be inside when you call. I'm pretty sure he won't be." I give him my biggest smile.

"We'll see." He goes back into his office and shuts the door. I can see in because the walls of his office are all windows. It's like he's in a window box. The door is real though, which I don't understand. Why have a real door if you can look in through the walls? I watch him tuck his shirt in before he sits down in his chair. That makes me laugh.

Ms. Trent clears her throat and I look at her. She smiles at me and puts her finger to her lips to tell me to be quiet. I stop laughing and smile back at her. Then I watch her dial my number. I sure hope Adam and Brian are still at the Miller's ranch. Adam's not gonna be happy if he finds out I didn't give him the note. I keep watching Ms. Trent and hoping she doesn't start talking. So far so good, she's not talking to anyone yet.

I look back at Mr. Brick and he's talking on his phone. Now I hear the secretary talking to someone on her phone. Darn! I wonder who's home. I can't hear what she's saying so when she hangs up I get up and walk to the big counter in front of her desk.

"Who did you talk to?" I ask her.

"Crane," she says. "He'll be here soon."

I sit back down and think. If someone has to come pick me up, I guess I'm glad it's Crane and not Adam. Crane is like Adam when it comes to talking to people about a problem. He can stay calm and talk about the problem without getting mad or angry. Brian is like me. He loses his temper quickly and starts shouting. Adam says we're both like firecrackers. I'm a little one and Brian's a big one. Brian's never punched Mr. Brick before, but sometimes I think he wants to.

I look at the clock. I didn't even make it to lunchtime today before getting sent to the office. On Monday I got sent to the office after lunch and Wednesday, yesterday, I got sent here at the last recess. The door to the office opens and my friend Denise comes in with my lunch and my red homework folder. She brings it to the front counter and then looks at me and whispers.

"Are you going home?"

I nod my head.

"Do you think I'll still be able to come over tomorrow after school?"

I forgot about that! Denise is coming home with me tomorrow on the bus and is spending the night. I hope she still gets to come over! If Adam finds out I didn't give him the note from Mr. Brick, he'll probably ground me and Denise won't be able to come over. I look at Denise and whisper, "I hope so!"

She smiles at me and waves goodbye as she leaves the office. Somehow I've got to figure out how I can keep Adam from finding out I got sent to the office three times this week. I'm going to have to think of a plan.

* * *

When Crane walks into the office he doesn't see me at first. I can't even remember the last time he's had to come here to pick me or Guthrie up. I don't think he's done it since before he went away for college and I wasn't in school yet. He walks up to the counter and Ms. Trent gets up from her desk to talk to him.

"Hi, I'm Crane McFadden. I'm here to pick up my sister, Heidi."

"Hi, I'm Isabella. Mr. Brick would like to talk to you before you take her home."

Hmm. She said her name was Isabella instead of Ms. Trent. Her cheeks look pink like she's embarrassed or something. Her eyes are looking at Crane kind of funny too. It's like she's looking at something she really likes. Then she says, "you can have a seat over there next to Heidi." She points to me and he walks over and sits down.

"Hi squirt," he says as he sits next to me. "Are you not feeling good today?"

I look up at him kind of funny. I guess he doesn't know I'm in trouble yet. "Yeah, my stomach hurts."

"As soon as I get you home you can rest on the couch. Why does Mr. Brick want to talk to me?"

"I don't know. It looks like he's really busy, maybe we should just go home. I'm sure he can talk to Adam later today. Let's go." I get up and pull on Crane's arm to try to get him to stand up.

"No, I can wait."

I look at Mr. Brick and he's still talking on the phone. I look at Ms. Trent and she's looking at Crane. She has a pen in her hand and she's holding it like she's going to write something down, but she's not. It's like she's frozen. She's smiling at him.

I nudge Crane and whisper, "I think Ms. Trent likes you."

"What? Her? No. Don't be silly."

"Yes she does. She keeps staring at you and smiling."

Ms. Trent is writing something now because we're looking at her. Crane looks at me and says, "she's very pretty. What did she say her name was?"

I look up at him and smile. "Isabella," I whisper. "Isn't that a beautiful name? You should ask her out on a date."

"What?! No. I'm sure she has a boyfriend."

I watch Crane and Ms. Trent. Every time she looks at Crane, he looks away. Every time he looks at her, she looks away. They get interrupted when Mr. Brick opens his door and says, "Mr. McFadden."

I laugh. I always think it's funny when I hear him call one of my brothers that. Crane stands up and goes into the office and sits down in the chair I was sitting in earlier. Mr. Brick closes the door and I watch them talk for a while. Then I look back at Ms. Trent. She's doing work now and looks really busy. I get up and walk to the counter.

"Ms. Trent? Do you have a tissue?" I ask.

She smiles at me and gets up. "Sure sweetie. Here you go." She brings me one from the tissue box sitting on her desk.

"Thank you." I pretend to wipe my nose with it but when she turns to go back to her desk I call her name and she stays here. "Ms. Trent, do you have a boyfriend?"

She looks at me a little funny and says, "no."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Oh, I don't know."

"Do you want a boyfriend? My brother, Crane, doesn't have a girlfriend."

She smiles when I say that and her cheeks turn pink again. "Heidi, I think you should sit back down on the bench. I've got some work I need to do."

I sit back down and watch her. I bet she'd be perfect for Crane. He hasn't really had a girlfriend since he's been home from college and that's been at least for a year. He's gone out on dates and he went out with a few girls more than once, but the last girlfriend he had was when he was in college. He went out with her for two years. Her name was Meredith and I knew everything about her because he talked about her a lot. He even brought her home with him on the weekends sometimes. But when they graduated from college, Crane came back home, and she moved to New York to go to lawyer college. They tried to stay boyfriend and girlfriend, but it didn't work out. Crane was sad for a while because he really liked her a lot. We all did. But now that I'm watching Ms. Trent I bet she'd be perfect for him! I'm gonna have to think of a plan to get them to go out on a date.

Now I've got two plans to think of. One for Crane and Isabella, and the other one for Denise to still be able to spend the night tomorrow night. I get startled when Mr. Brick's office door opens.

I look up at Crane and he doesn't look happy. I think he might even be a little mad. That's not good.

"Let's go," he says to me. He didn't call me squirt, or twerp, or little sis, or even my name. That's not good either. I get up and get my homework folder and lunch off the counter and say goodbye to Ms. Trent.

"Goodbye Heidi," she says. She gets up and walks to the counter. "Um, goodbye...?" She looks at Crane and her cheeks are pink again.

"Crane," I tell her.

"Right. Goodbye Crane." She smiles real pretty at him and Crane holds out his hand and they shake hands.

"Goodbye...?" He says and I say, "Ms. Trent. Ms. Isabella Trent."

"Goodby Ms. Isabella Trent," Crane says and he smiles real big at her.

I can't wait to tell Guthrie about this. We're gonna come up with the best plan to get Crane and Ms. Trent together!

* * *

Crane doesn't say anything at first when we leave the office. I wonder if he's thinking about Isabella. That would be good for me. Maybe he'll forget why he had to come pick me up. Once we're in the jeep though, he starts talking.

"So you weren't really sick were you?" He asks.

"Isn't Ms. Trent pretty?" I answer back. He doesn't answer so I say, "I asked her if she had a boyfriend and guess what?! She doesn't!" I look at his face carefully and I think I see a smile.

"Heidi, I don't want to talk about Ms. Trent right now. I want to talk about you."

I turn my head and look out my window. The good thing about Crane picking me up is he doesn't yell. Adam would've already yelled a whole lot if he picked me up, and Brian would've too. Crane never really yells. He's like Hannah. Their yells are more like talking in a loud voice.

"Why did you tell me you didn't feel good?" He asks.

"Because I don't. My stomach hurts."

"I don't think I believe you. But if it hurts that bad, I guess when we get home you should go to your room and take a nap."

I turn my head really fast and look at him. "Actually, I think my stomach feels fine now."

"I bet it does. Why were you cheating on your math test?"

"I wasn't _really_ cheating. Ms. Wilson cheated first. She didn't tell us the math tests were going to be different. If she would've, I wouldn't have cheated."

"What?"

"I _said_..,"

"No, I heard what you said. I just can't believe you said it." When he says that I get confused. "Basically you just said if you knew you were going to get caught, you wouldn't have cheated. Do you always cheat on your math tests?"

I don't think I want to answer that. I hate math so much. Especially multiplying. When I see multiplication problems my brain turns off. It just stops working. "Sometimes I cheat, but not every time. It depends on what the problems are."

I hear Crane sigh and he says, "if you cheat, you're never going to learn."

"So." Adam would've really yelled at me if I said that to him. But Crane stays calm.

"Heidi, you need to learn how to do math problems." He starts talking about all the reasons why I need to learn math. I don't listen because I've heard them all before and I don't really care. I'm gonna be like Evan when I grow up. I'm gonna join the professional rodeo circuit. You don't need to know any math to do that!

"Heidi? Are you listening to me Heidi?" I hear Crane say.

"Yes." I hope he doesn't make me tell him what he just said. Adam always does that and I hate it. If he knows I'm not listening, why does he ask? I try to change the subject. "Do you think Ms. Trent is pretty?"

"I don't want to talk about that now. Tell me about the note you were supposed to show Adam?"

So he knows about the note. "Are you gonna tell Adam about all this?"

"Of course."

"Why? What if I promise I'll never, ever cheat again. I'll never get in trouble at school again too. Do you still have to tell him?"

"You know I do."

"No you don't. This could be our little secret! You could help me with my math and just think how happy Adam will be when I show him the good grade I get on my next math test. It's perfect!"

"No, it's not."

"Aw, come on Crane! Please don't tell Adam. I'll do your chores for you."

"No. You can't even do my chores. Heidi, Adam has to know what's going on and you know it. Please stop asking me to keep it a secret."

"Fine! But, if you tell him, he's not gonna let Denise come over tomorrow night and then _I'll_ be mad! I'll be mad at _you_!"

"Knock it off."

"No. Denise and I have been waiting a long time for her to come spend the night and you're gonna ruin it!"

"_I'm_ going to ruin it?"

"Yes!"

"Heidi, you ruined it when you cheated. You cheated and you knew you weren't supposed to."

"I didn't know I was gonna get caught!"

Crane is quiet now. We pull into our driveway. It's not a real driveway like most people have in big cities, it's more like a dirt road. A long dirt road that has our house on one side, and the barn and pastures on the other. When we park I get out of the jeep and run to the house.

The door is unlocked. It pretty much always is. I open it and run through the living room to the kitchen and throw my lunch and folder on the table. I get a glass from the cupboard and pour myself some apple juice. I hear the front door close and soon Crane is in the kitchen.

"So what are we gonna do today?" I ask him as I sit down. "If you have work to do on the ranch, can I ride Lucy, or we could stay inside and play a game?"

He sits down at the table across from me. "We're not going to play a game, or ride Lucy, or do anything fun. Do you realize how much trouble you're in?" When I don't answer him he keeps talking. "I think we need to work on your schoolwork. Starting with math."

"Nooooo!" I whine. "Crane, I don't want to do that!"

"Yep, that's what we're going to do first. Go get your flash cards. I think we need to work with those again."

"I don't think so," I say quietly.

"Go get them."

I get up and leave the kitchen. I walk as slow as I can through the living room and up the stairs and into my room. Once I'm in there I sit on my bed. I'm gonna have to sit here for a while so he thinks I'm looking for my flash cards, because I threw those away weeks ago.

* * *

"Heidi, come downstairs with your flashcards. You've been up there a really long time."

I walk out of my room and over to the banister. Crane is in the living room looking up at me. "What's the matter?" He asks.

"I can't find them. I looked everywhere for them."

"That's ok, we can make new ones."

I groan and watch him walk over to the big desk to get some paper, scissors and a pen. This is not going to be a fun rest of the day.

Crane makes some flashcards for me and helps me memorize some of them. We eat lunch together and then work on the flash cards some more. Then he has me work on my other assignments in my red folder. I lose interest very quickly in my writing assignment so I watch Crane write numbers in 'the books'.

'The books' are three notebooks Crane uses to keep track of how much money we have. I don't know why there's three of them because we don't have any money. Well, not much. We have enough to buy food and a little bit of other stuff but not enough to buy anything fun like a color tv. Hannah has been working at Marie's ever since Christmas to help 'make ends meet'. I don't know what that means, but it must mean something good.

"What are you writing?" I ask Crane.

"I'm recording some receipts."

That just means he's writing numbers down. "Crane, do you ever think about Meredith?"

He stops writing and looks at me. "Sometimes, why?"

"Just curious. Do you still talk to her?"

"Not since Christmas. She has a boyfriend now."

"How come you don't have a girlfriend?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess I just haven't found the right girl yet."

Well I can take care of that. "What kind of girl do you like?"

He doesn't answer me, he just stares at me. Then he says, "get back to work. I think you're stalling now." He smiles at me and I glare at him. I pick up my pencil and look at my writing assignment. He goes back to writing his numbers.

I ignore my assignment and write Ms. Trent on my paper. Then I write Ms. Isabella Trent. We're learning cursive so I try to write her name in my best cursive, but I'm not that good at it so it looks messy. Then I write Ms. Isabella McFadden. Wait, _Mrs_. Isabella McFadden. There. I look at her name and it looks nice. It sounds nice too. Isabella McFadden. Isabella McFadden.

"What are you writing about?" Crane asks.

I jump a little and then cover my paper with my hands. I'm supposed to be writing a paragraph about my favorite pet. "Nothing," I tell him.

He smiles at me and says, "it looks like you're trying to hide something."

"No I'm not!" I say quickly.

"What's your assignment?"

"We're supposed to write about our favorite pet. I'm writing about Lucy. I have to describe what she looks like."

"Can I see what you have so far?"

"No!" I yell. Then I calm down. "I mean, no. I'm not done yet. You can read it when I'm finished."

"Ok," he says and he goes back to what he was doing.

I sigh and look at my paper. Now I have to erase all this! I start doing that but the eraser isn't that good. I rub really hard and end up making a small hole on my paper. I hate it when that happens! I erase the rest of what I wrote and end up with three more holes! I can still read what I wrote in some places so I groan.

"What's the matter."

"Nothing. I have a bunch of holes in my paper! I hate writing!"

"I can help you. Let me see your paper."

"No, I don't need any help." I look down at my paper and start writing as I say out loud, "Lucy is my favorite pet." I can only think of two things to describe her and my teacher says a good paragraph has at least six sentences in it. I write down how old she is for one sentence and the next sentence I write what color she is. Then I'm stuck. I look at the clock. Guthrie should be home soon. I can't wait until I tell him Ms. Trent likes Crane!

* * *

Hannah gets home before Guthrie. She only works part time and she's surprised to see me.

"Are you ok Heidi? What are you doing home?" She feels my forehead. "Are you sick?"

Crane says, "no, she's not sick. She's home because she cheated on her math test."

"Crane!" I yell and I stand up. "You didn't have to tell her that!"

"Multiplication?" Hannah asks him.

"Yep. I already made the flashcards," he tells her.

"Good. After you do your chores I can quiz you on them. The more you practice them, the sooner you'll learn them."

I glare at Crane. "Thanks a lot."

He smiles at me and says, "no problem."

"Hey! You know what I meant!" Hannah laughs and I glare at both of them. "When's Adam coming home?"

"Dinnertime," Hannah says. She starts putting some groceries away that she bought.

"Before dinner? Or right at dinnertime?"

"I don't know," she says.

I hope it's right at dinnertime. That way Crane won't have any time to talk to him. I look in the living room when I hear the front door open. It's Guthrie. "How come you're home," he asks when he sees me in the kitchen.

"I'll tell you later."

Hannah puts some cookies out on the table and pours two small glasses of milk. She always has cookies waiting for us when we come home from school. When we finish eating, we go outside to the barn to do our chores.

* * *

"Guthrie, guess what?!"

"What?"

"Ms. Trent likes Crane!"

Guthrie stops walking and looks at me. "She does?" His eyes are big and he's smiling.

"Yes! When Crane came to pick me up she smiled at him a lot and her cheeks got all pink! Don't you think her and Crane would be perfect for each other?"

"Yes! All the boys in my class have crushes on her."

"Even yooooou?" I ask while smiling at him.

His cheeks turn pick and he says, "nooooo."

I tease him. "Yes you do! You think Ms. Trent is pretty! You like her!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do! Admit it! You loooooove her!"

"I do not! Leave me alone Heidi!"

"Ok, I'm sorry. But don't you think Crane would like her?"

"Yes."

"We need to come up with a plan for how we can get them together."

"Yeah, we should," he says. "Let's think of one after we do our chores."

We hurry up and do our chores and then walk out to one of our favorite places to go. The river. We love going there to play and to explore. We also go there when we want to run away from something or someone. As we walk we try to think of a plan.

"I could pretend I'm sick tomorrow and make sure she calls Crane to come pick me up," I suggest.

"But then what? Somehow we have to get them to talk to each other."

"Maybe we could invite her over for dinner?"

"Heidi, _we_ can't do that. She's not gonna come over because two little kids invited her."

"Maybe we could get Hannah to invite her."

"Maybe," he says. "Or _maybe_ we could pretend Crane invited her over!"

"How would we do that?"

"We could write a note and pretend it's from Crane."

"Wouldn't she think it's kind of strange that he didn't ask her in person?"

"I guess so. I don't know." We're quiet for a while and then Guthrie says, "we could call her and pretend to be Crane!"

"Yeah! That would work! If it doesn't work I could get in trouble tomorrow and ask her over to dinner with Crane standing right there. She'd have to say yes!"

"Heidi, I don't think you should get in trouble. You're already gonna be in trouble for not showing Adam that note yesterday. What'd you do today?"

"I cheated on my math test. Ms. Wilson cheated first though! She made different tests and didn't tell us!"

"I hate it when teachers do that!" Guthrie says. "Heidi, don't get in trouble tomorrow. Let's call her first and pretend to be Crane."

"Ok. Do you think you can sound like him? She doesn't know what he sounds like on the phone. You just have to make sure you sound like an adult."

He practices talking in a low, deep voice the rest of the way to the river. I practice too. We both think we sound funny and we practice and laugh all the way to the river. I'm sure this plan is going to work!


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the nice reviews!**

* * *

"Where have you been?" Crane asks when Guthrie and I come in from outside. He looks a little mad.

I stare at him and don't say anything because I don't know why he's mad yet.

"I'm talking to you Heidi. Where have you been?"

"The river," I say quietly. "We're home before dinner."

"You weren't supposed to go to the river. You were supposed to come back inside and finish your schoolwork," he says.

"Oh. I didn't know that. You didn't tell me to come back in after I finished my chores."

"I didn't think I had to." He looks mad and his voice sounds loud for him. "Is that what you normally do when Adam or Brian picks you up from school?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I guess normally I do what they tell me to do. You didn't tell me to come back so I didn't know I was supposed to."

"Well I wanted you to come back and finish your work."

"Sorry." I look up at him and say again, "I'm sorry Crane." Then I give him a big hug. He hugs me back and I think he's done being mad at me. Crane never stays mad for too long.

Hannah walks into the living room and says, "come into the kitchen and we'll work on your flashcards while you help me with dinner."

"Are you sure you can do two things at the same time?" I ask her.

She smiles at me. "It's going to be tough, but I'm sure I can manage."

"Are you teasing me?"

She smiles even bigger and says, "no, I would _never_ do that!"

Guthrie laughs and so does Crane, so I do too. The three of us help Hannah with dinner. I'm glad Adam isn't home yet. That means Crane won't get a chance to talk to him about me before dinner. When Guthrie and Crane take the corn outside on the porch to shuck it, I decide this would be a good time to talk to Hannah about Ms. Trent.

"Hannah, do you think Crane wants a girlfriend?"

She stops stirring the pot on the stove and looks at me. "I don't know. Why are you asking?"

"I think the secretary at my school likes him. You know, Ms. Trent."

"What makes you think that?"

"She smiled at him today when he picked me up. Her cheeks turned pink too."

"That doesn't mean she likes him." Hannah walks over to the counter and I help her roll out the pie crust for the apple pie she's making.

"I asked her if she had a boyfriend and she said no."

"Heidi, you shouldn't be asking her a question like that. Look at me." I look up at her and she smiles and says, "don't bother Ms. Trent. If Crane wants to ask her out he will."

"Maybe he's shy. Remember how long it took Ford to ask Cleo out?"

"Heidi, Crane is not shy. Especially when it comes to girls."

Guthrie and Crane come back in and I smile up at Hannah and whisper, "I think they'd really like each other."

"You just make sure you mind your own business," she whispers back. Then she touches my nose with her finger and puts flour on it, and we both laugh.

"What's so funny?" Guthrie asks.

"Nothing," I say as I smile really big at Crane.

"Why do I get the feeling you're talking about me?" Crane asks.

"I don't know," I tell him. I smile at him. He walks over to the counter and slides his finger through the flour and dabs flour on both my cheeks. I put my hands on my hips and say, "hey!" I put flour on my hand and jump up to try to put some on his face. We laugh and then Guthrie joins in too.

"Hey you guys! Save some flour for the rolling pin!" Hannah says as she sprinkles a little bit of flour on the top of mine and Guthrie's head so it gets in our hair. We laugh and before things start to get too far out of hand she says, "ok, help me get this pie in the oven Crane. Guthrie stir the pot on the stove, and Heidi get a pot out for the corn. Your brothers are going to be home soon and they're going to be starving!"

We all get busy. If there's one thing my brothers like after a long day working, it's a big dinner on the table when they walk through the front door.

* * *

"Boy Hannah, you really outdid yourself this time," Daniel says as he passes the plate of fried chicken around.

"I don't know how you do it honey," Adam says. "You work at Marie's and then come home and make a dinner like this? What would we do without you?"

I say, "I know! I know! You're gonna say, 'I'd prefer you don't find out!'" Everyone laughs because that's how she _always_ answers that question.

"Seriously Hannah, this is a great meal," Crane says and everyone agrees.

"Why thank you. I suppose that means I'll have plenty of help with the dishes after dinner?" There are a lot of groans so Hannah says, "aw come on boys, you wouldn't want me to do all the work now, would you?"

"You know we're kidding Hannah," Evan says and everyone agrees with him.

I'm pretty quiet at dinner tonight. I don't want to call any attention to myself because as of right now Adam doesn't know I got sent home from school. I stare at my plate. Fried chicken, baked beans, corn on the cob, biscuits, and carrots. All my favorites except I can't eat because my stomach hurts.

"How come you're not eating?" Hannah asks.

"I'm not really that hungry. My stomach hurts too." The good thing about sitting at this end of the table is Adam is at the other end so unless we're all having a conversation that involves everyone, his end of the table can't really hear what we talk about at this end of the table. Hannah sits on my right at this end of the table, Crane sits on my left and Guthrie is across from me.

"Are you thinking about school?" She asks.

I nod my head. That's all I can think about now. My stomach is hurting so bad now because I know after dinner I'm gonna be yelled at. I'm probably gonna be grounded which means Adam's probably gonna tell me that Denise can't come over. I start to cry a little bit. Denise and I have been planning this sleepover for a long time. I get startled when I hear Adam calling my name.

"What?" I ask.

"Are you feeling ok?" He asks. "It looks like you're not eating."

I shrug my shoulders. "I'm just not that hungry, I guess."

"It looks like you're crying." Everyone is looking at me now and that makes my small tears turn into bigger ones.

"What's the matter?" I think almost everyone said that. Everyone except for Hannah, Crane and Guthrie because they already know why I'm crying.

"Nothing," I tell them. I pick up my fork and stab a carrot and put it in my mouth.

"Heidi, if something's wrong, you can tell us," Adam says.

"Adam, I think this should wait until after dinner," Hannah says.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you after dinner," Crane says.

I keep staring at my plate while I chew. Adam's not gonna let this go. I know he's not.

"Did something happen at school today?" He asks.

I just keep staring down at my plate.

Crane says again, "Adam we should talk about this after dinner."

"Ok."

I look up at Hannah and whisper, "can I be excused please?"

"What about dessert?"

"I'm not hungry."

"I'll save you a piece of pie, ok?" She puts her hand on top of my hand that's resting on the table and gives it a little squeeze. "It's going to be ok," she says.

I nod my head and pick up my plate and carry it to the sink. Then I walk out of the kitchen with my head down so I don't have to look at anybody. Once I'm in the living room I run up the stairs to my room and throw myself on my bed.

* * *

"Cheating?! Really Heidi?! Cheating?!" Adam yells at me. He's standing in my doorway glaring at me while I sit on my bed. "You know that's wrong!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?! Sorry you got caught?! Sorry you didn't give me the note?!" I look up at him when he says that last part. "Yes, I know about the note! What were you thinking?!"

I'm not sure if he wants me to answer that, so I don't.

"Did you tell Mr. Brick he looked funny?"

I smile when he says that.

"Heidi!"

I look up at him and try to make my smile go away but I can't. "Adam, he really did look funny! His face was all red and his shirt was untucked and...,"

"Heidi! That was rude! You don't say things like that to people!"

"I didn't mean to be rude, I was just saying what I thought."

"Well sometimes you need to think before you say stuff!" He yells.

He always says that to me. He wants me to think before I say stuff and think before I do stuff. It's too much thinking.

"Where's the note Mr. Brick gave you?!"

I look down at my hands now. They're in my lap and I really don't want to answer that question.

"Where is it?! I want you to get it for me!"

"I can't," I say quietly.

"Why not?!"

"Because I threw it away."

"What?! Why did you do that?!"

That's an easy question to answer, but I think he already knows the answer. Why do adults ask questions they don't want you to answer?

"Why did you throw the note away!"

"Aaaadam, I didn't want you to see the note."

"Stop whining! We'll get back to the note. Why are you cheating on your math test?!"

Again, that's an easy question to answer, but he wouldn't like it. So instead I say, "Adam, Mrs. Wilson cheated too! She didn't tell us she passed out different tests!"

"She doesn't have to!"

"Well she should. I never would've cheated if I knew she did that."

"See! That's what makes me so mad! You're sorry because you got caught, not because you cheated and you knew it was wrong!"

I have to think about that. "I don't know what you mean by that!" I yell.

Adam starts to yell but then stops and sighs. He comes into my room and kneels down in front of me. "Heidi, why are you mad at your teacher?"

"Because she cheated!"

"Don't yell, we're going to talk about this calmly."

I look at him and say, "you're not gonna yell at me anymore?"

"Just listen to me. Heidi, your teacher didn't cheat, _you_ did...,"

"Uh-uh! She..,"

He holds my hands and looks into my eyes and says, "listen." He pauses I guess to make sure I'm listening. "Is cheating wrong?"

"Yes."

"When you cheated did you know you were doing something wrong?"

"Yes."

"Your teacher didn't cheat. She can give you whatever test she wants to. She doesn't have to tell you she passed out different tests either. She's the teacher and she can do that if she wants to. Do you understand that?"

"But why? It doesn't seem fair."

"Is it fair that you cheated on the test?"

I sigh. "No."

"You were supposed to study your flashcards and take the test without cheating."

"But it's too hard!" I cry.

"Stop crying. Crane said he had to make new flashcards today. What happened to the other ones we made?"

I'm quiet for a minute before I say, "I lost them."

"Heidi?"

I guess he doesn't believe me. "Fine! I threw them away!"

"And that's why you don't know your multiplication facts," he says calmly. "Because you're not studying them. If you studied them you wouldn't have to cheat on the test."

I guess he's right. I need to think about that. "But they're too hard."

"If you don't learn them now in fourth grade, math is going to be much harder for you in fifth."

I guess he's right. "Ok, I'll try to practice them."

"Good." He hugs me but it's just a short hug. Then he says, "now tell me about the note Mr. Brick gave you yesterday."

I groan and fall back on my bed.

"No, you're not going to act like that." He pulls me back up. "Sit up and answer me."

"What?"

"What was the note for?" He asks.

"It was for you."

He looks a little mad when I say that. "What did it say?"

"I don't know. I didn't read it."

"Why was he sending it home?" I think he's gonna start yelling again.

"He sent it home for you to read."

He stands up now and says, "Heidi! Start talking! I want to know why the principal is sending a note home and I don't want to hear it was for me to read! I know it was for me to read! And I'm guessing he didn't send it home because you were good!"

"Hey!" I yell and I glare at him. "You never know! It could've said something nice about me!"

"Did it?!"

"No!"

"Then what was it for?!"

"It was for you to sign!"

"Why did he want me to sign it?!"

"So he knew you read it!"

"Heidi! Quit playing this game!" He glares at me and says, "I guess I'll try a different approach with you."

I don't know what that means.

"What did you _do_ at school yesterday that got you in trouble?"

Oh. "That's a trick question!" I yell.

"No it's not. It's a question you have to answer without giving me a smart aleck answer."

"But I don't want to tell you what I did."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be mad at me!"

"Either you tell me now, or I'll ask Mr. Brick tomorrow. If I have to ask _him_, you're going to be in even more trouble than you are now."

That makes me cry. "Ok, if you really want to know, I sprayed Jeremy with water at the drinking fountain."

"You got a note sent home for that?"

I can tell he thinks that's a dumb reason. "I know, it sounds hard for me to believe he sent a note home for that too!"

"I'm not buying it. Tell me the rest of the story."

I sigh and tell him the whole story. "On Monday a few kids and I got sent to the office because we were having a water fight at the drinking fountain. We were spraying each other with water. The yard duty told us to stop, but as soon as she left, we started playing with the water again. She sent us all to the office. Mr. Brick told us if we did that again, he was going to send a note home to our parents. Yesterday I sprayed Jeremy with water so I got sent to the office. The note also said if I got sent to the office one more time this week, he was gonna send me home. So when I cheated I got sent to the office and then he sent home.

"Oh."

"See, it could've been worse. I could've gotten into a fight with someone and got suspended."

"Or it could've been better," Adam says. "You could've given me the note yesterday and we wouldn't be talking about it now."

"But all I did was spray water at kids and we were all doing it! We were playing a game. It's not like I was doing something mean or really bad. I didn't get suspended or anything like that. I've done way worse stuff than that."

"Heidi, I really don't care if you were spraying kids with water...,"

"See! That's what _we_ all thought! We thought what's the big deal, it's...,"

"Heidi, I don't know why you guys got in trouble for that. My guess is you kids were out of control and they didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"From water?!" I laugh.

"Stop that! This is serious, you...,"

"Adam it was just water."

"Heidi, that's not what I'm upset about."

I stare at him because now I'm confused. If he's not upset with me for playing with water, then what's he upset about? "What are you upset about?"

He kneels back down in front of me so we can see eye to eye again. "I'm upset, no, I'm disappointed, that you were told to stop and you didn't. On Monday you were told not to do that anymore, and on Wednesday you did it again, knowing you weren't supposed to."

"Oh."

"That's why I want you to think before you do stuff. I mean it Heidi. You know the difference between right and wrong. I want you to think about that." We stare at each other and then he says, "so, you cheated on a test and you lied to me about a note, I'd say you're grounded this week-end and you're going to bed early tonight."

I groan and fall backwards onto my bed and start crying.

"Sit up Heidi and look at me."

"I don't want to!"

"Tough luck!" He pulls me up so I can look at him. "I want you to finish your homework and then get ready for bed. Do you understand me?"

I'm still crying but I nod my head. "Wait. When you say grounded, what exactly do you mean?"

"Heidi, you know what that means. You come home from school, do your chores and I'll have extra chores for you to do. No riding Lucy, no going anywhere like the river or anywhere else."

He didn't say Denise couldn't come over. I guess he forgot she was spending the night tomorrow night. "Anything else?" I ask. I wipe my cheeks and my eyes and look at him.

"Like what?" He asks and he starts glaring at me.

"I don't know. Like is there anything else I can't do?"

"I don't know what you're thinking Heidi, but whatever it is you better make sure you think about it before you do it. A LOT!"

"I'm not thinking about anything."

"Good. You'd better not be." He stands up and lifts my chin up with his hand. "I mean it."

"I know."

"Good, go finish your homework."

I slide down off my bed and we leave my room together.

* * *

Hannah helps me with my writing homework and then I bring my flashcards to Crane so he can help me with those. He's sitting on the couch helping Guthrie do his homework so I squeeze in between them.

"Hey twerp!" Crane says as he pulls me onto his lap.

"Are you grounded Heidi?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes. I have to go to bed early tonight too."

I give my flashcards to Crane so he can help me with them. I have ten cards to work with right now and when I learn those Crane said we'll add five more. After a while I get up so he can go get some coffee so it's just me and Guthrie sitting on the couch.

"So is Adam calling Denise's mom to tell her she can't come over?" Guthrie asks.

"Sh!" Then I whisper, "no. He forgot she was coming over so he didn't say anything about it."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Are you gonna tell her she can't come?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're grounded! You can't have a friend over when you're grounded!"

"Sh! Why not? He didn't say I couldn't," I tell him.

"You're gonna be in so much trouble if she comes home with you tomorrow," he whispers.

"No I won't. I'll just pretend I forgot."

"Forgot what?! Forgot you were grounded?!" Guthrie thinks that's funny so I jab him in the side.

"No! Forgot that she was coming over. He forgot about it, why can't I?"

"He'll _never_ believe that!"

"What's he gonna do? Take her home?"

"YES!"

"Sh! You really think he would do that?"

"I _know_ he would!"

When Crane comes back into the living room he doesn't have any coffee. He walks over to the front door and takes his jacket off the hook on the wall.

"Where are you going?" Guthrie asks.

Brian comes in and walks over to get his jacket too. "We're going into town."

"You can't!" I yell.

They both look at me and they look surprised. "Why not?"

"You can Brian, but Crane can't."

"Why?" He asks.

"You have to help me with my flashcards," I lie. I don't want him going into town and meeting a girl. That would ruin our plan for him and Ms. Trent.

"You have to help me with my homework too," Guthrie says. I think he gets it too.

"There are plenty of other people here who can help you," Crane says and he looks at us and smiles.

"No, they can't. Only _you_ can help me," I tell him.

"Same here," Guthrie says.

"Why do I get the feeling you two are up to something?" Crane asks.

"We're not!" We both yell.

"Looks like you are to me," Brian says.

"Well, we're not," Guthrie says.

We look at each other and make sad faces and then look back at Crane. That makes both Brian and Crane laugh. Then Crane yells, "Adam! These two are up to something!"

"No we're not!"

They open the door and walk out and Brian says, "don't wait up," with a smile.

Adam comes in from the kitchen. "What's going on in here?" He asks.

"We're just doing our homework," Guthrie tells him. We both look up at Adam and smile.

"I think it's time you went to bed Heidi. I think you're done with your homework. Go get ready for bed and I'll be up in a minute."

"Ok." I start to get up and when Adam goes into the kitchen I sit back down again. "When should we call Ms. Trent?"

"I was thinking about that. We don't have her phone number. How are we gonna get it?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know. Maybe it's in the phone book?"

"I'll go look. You go get ready for bed and I'll tell you if it's in there."

"Ok." I run upstairs to get ready for bed and Guthrie goes over to the big desk where we keep the phone book.

* * *

It doesn't take long for me to get ready so when I'm done I stand just outside my door and look down at Guthrie. He's still looking in the phone book. Finally he looks up and he shakes his head no.

He starts to ask me something but gets interrupted when Adam walks in.

"What are you doing Guthrie? Are you done with your homework?"

"Almost." He says and when Adam walks by and up the stairs Guthrie mouths, "I'll write it," as he pretends like he's writing something in the air. I nod my head and run into my room and jump on my bed.

When Adam comes in and sits on my bed he helps me get under the covers. When I'm all settled in I look up at him and he looks down at me.

"I'm sorry I cheated on my math test. I'm also sorry I didn't give you the note."

"Good, because that's why you're going to bed early tonight and why you're grounded this weekend." He's talking in his serious voice. "I kind of feel like you're up to something this weekend."

I sigh and just stare up at him. Maybe I should remind him about Denise coming over.

"Are you sure you're not thinking up some plan that's going to get you in trouble?"

"No. There's no plan."

"Then what is it? I feel like you're hiding something from me."

"I'm not." I look away and try to change the subject. "Adam, do you think Crane should have a girlfriend?"

"What? Why are you thinking about that?"

"Do you think he should?"

"If he wants to. Why?"

"No reason."

"Heidi, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Crane should have a girlfriend, don't you? Do you know the secretary, Ms. Trent? Well she likes Crane and..,"

"Stop. If Crane wants a girlfriend, he'll get one."

"But they like each other Adam."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

"Goodnight Heidi," he says and he leans down and gives me a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm not tired. It's still early."

"I know. Read some books." He gets up and picks up a few of my books and puts them on my bed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I open up my favorite book. It's about horses and it has lots of pictures to look at. I pretend to read it until Adam's gone and then I put it down and wait. I look at my clock. 7:45. It's so early! After a few minutes a crumpled up piece of paper comes flying into my room. I get out of bed and pick it up. When I open it I read, "she's not in the phone book. Who does she live with?" I get a pencil and sit on my bed with the paper. I use my book as a table to write on, "I think she lives with her cousin or uncle. The Wyatt's?" I crumple the paper back up and quietly tiptoe to my doorway. The coast is clear so I throw the paper down to Guthrie and he gets up and gets it. Then I run back to my bed and wait.

Guthrie is taking forever! I hear someone coming upstairs so I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep.

"Heidi," I hear Ford whisper.

I open my eyes and sit up. He throws the paper to me and says, "that's from Guthrie."

"Thanks!" I whisper. He walks down the hallway to his room and I open up the paper. It says, "there are three Wyatt's!" What?! We live in the smallest town in the whole wide world and there are three Wyatt's in the phone book?! I write back. "We'll have to call them all!" I crumple the paper back up and get off my bed. Someone's coming so I jump back on my bed. It's Evan.

"Evan!" I whisper as loud as I can when he walks by my doorway. He looks in.

"What?"

"Give this to Guthrie." I throw the paper at him and he catches it and turns around and throws it downstairs. "Thanks!" I whisper.

"No problem," he says and then he walks down to his room.

Now I have to wait to see what Guthrie writes back. I get tired while I'm waiting so I pick up a book and read. After a while my eyes start to feel heavy. I lay the book on top of my stomach and close my eyes. I hope we find Isabella's phone number and I hope Crane doesn't meet a girl tonight. I also hope Adam won't be mad when Denise comes over tomorrow. Thinking about that makes my stomach start to hurt a little bit. But I'm too tired to think now, so I go to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

While we walk to the bus stop Guthrie and I try to come up with our plan of how to invite Ms. Trent over for dinner. "Guthrie, what if I went to the office and asked her who she lives with?"

"She's not gonna tell you."

"Why not? Everyone knows everything about everyone in Murphys, why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Because you're just a kid Heidi. Why would she talk to you about stuff like that?"

"I bet I can get her to talk. I'm pretty good at that."

"Yeah, you're pretty good at bugging people!" Guthrie laughs. "She'll probably tell you all about herself just to get you to shut up!"

"Ha! Ha! Very funny! I'm gonna get you!" I chase Guthrie down the street trying to tag him, but he's way faster than me. We stop to catch our breath at our bus stop and see the bus coming down the street. Before it gets here I tell Guthrie, "tonight we'll call Ms. Trent and pretend to be Crane. Then we'll invite her over to dinner and pretty soon she'll be Mrs. Isabella McFadden!"

"What!" Guthrie yells. "Are you crazy?!"

"What? What's wrong with Crane marrying her?"

"They don't even know each other yet!"

"That's why she's coming to have dinner! She'll get to know him and us, and then they can get married!"

"It doesn't work that way," Guthrie says.

"Yes it does! We never met Hannah before and Adam married her. We don't even know how long they dated for! Maybe they only went out on one date!"

Guthrie looks at me and says, "I guess you're right. Adam did get married really fast."

"And then just think, Isabella will be living with us and 'you'll' get to see her every day!" I tease. "She'll even kiss you goodnight!" I say while laughing.

"Ha! Ha!" He yells and hits me on the top of my head. We're just playing around so I don't hit him back. The bus is here now so we get on.

* * *

Denise runs up to me as soon as I get off the bus.

"Are you grounded?!" She yells. "Can I still come over?"

Oh right, I forgot about that. Now I'm not so sure it's a good idea for Denise to come over. I think Adam might be mad if she comes over. What if he takes her home? Then Denise will cry, and so will I. No, this was not a very good plan. "Denise, Adam didn't say you _couldn't_ come over."

She looks at me like she doesn't understand. So I try to explain. "I got grounded for the weekend. I think Adam forgot you were coming over because he didn't tell me to call you and cancel our plans."

"So what do we do?" She asks.

"I thought I would just bring you home with me and see what happens, but I don't think that's a good idea. I guess you shouldn't come over. I'm sorry."

She starts to cry so I hug her and say, "it's ok. You can come over a different night."

She pulls away and says, "Heidi, my mom and dad aren't going to be home tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"My dad has a banking conference in Stockton this weekend. Since I was spending the night at your house my mom decided to go with him. They dropped me off at school and now they're driving to Stockton. Nobody's going to be home, so my mom can't pick me up from school today."

"Oh no! What should we do?"

"I guess I have to come home with you."

"Oh no! I'm don't want to get in trouble for this! I'm gonna call home and tell Adam before I bring you home. Otherwise, he's gonna I think I planned this!"

"They won't let you call home, you know that."

"They might if I tell them it's an emergency."

"This isn't an emergency, Heidi."

"Well I'm gonna try. I'm gonna go to the office and ask Ms. Trent if I can call home. I bet she'll let me! I'll meet you in class and let you know what happened!" I run to the office as fast as I can.

* * *

"Where's Ms. Trent?" I ask Mr. Brick when I step into the office. Usually Ms. Trent is sitting at her desk, but today she's not. Today Mr. Brick is standing at the counter doing nothing.

"She's coming in later," he says. He looks a little angry.

"Why?"

Mr. Brick sighs and asks, "what do you want Heidi?"

"I need to use the phone."

"You know the rules, no student may use the phone," he reminds me.

"I know, but this is an emergency!"

"I doubt that," he says quietly.

"You don't even know what it is yet!"

"What's the emergency," he asks. He folds his arms across his chest and kind of glares at me like he doesn't believe me.

"I have to call home and tell Adam Denise is coming home with me"

"That's _not_ an emergency."

"Yes it is! She's not supposed to come over because I'm grounded! I don't want to get in trouble for this!"

Now Mr. Brick doesn't look that mad anymore I think he even starts to smile a little bit. "You know arrangements need to be made in advance with your parents, or family ahead of time if you are going over to someone's house."

"They _were_ made in advance, but now they've changed and I have to let somebody know!"

"Heidi, go to class. School is starting in a few minutes and I don't want you to be late."

"But I have to use the phone! It's an emergency!"

"No! Go to class!" He yells.

I glare at him and yell, "fine!" I stomp out of the office. If he's not gonna let me use the phone in the office I guess I'll just have to go see if Hannah's working at Marie's. Then I can tell Hannah about Denise and I won't get in trouble.

* * *

The bell rings and everyone starts going to their classrooms. There's lots of kids around so this is the perfect time to sneak off to the parking lot. It's always crazy in the parking lot before school starts with parents dropping their kids off. I look around at the adults I see and they're all busy either talking to each other or to a kid. No one is looking at me so I walk to the parking lot like I know exactly where I'm going.

I duck down behind cars as I make my way out of the parking lot and to the street. I'll have to walk on side streets instead of Main Street so no one will see me. Marie's isn't that far from school. It'll probably take me about fifteen minutes to get there. Maybe a little longer since I have to go the back way.

Marie's is farther away than I thought, but luckily no one is paying attention to me. It's gonna take me longer to get there, especially now that things don't look as familiar to me. I know Marie's is on Main Street, but because I'm walking on side streets I don't know if I already passed it. I'll have to go to Main Street and see where I am. My brothers don't usually drive on the back streets so nothing looks familiar to me. I guess I'll turn right on this next street and see if that one will take me to Main.

It doesn't. I don't know what this street is. How can I be lost?! There's only a Main Street! All the businesses are on Main Street! I look down the street and I think if I walk straight ahead I'll find it. So that's my plan. I walk straight ahead.

I feel like I've been walking for hours! A white truck turns onto the street I'm walking on and slows down as it gets near me. I stop walking and stare at it as it gets closer. Then it stops and the man driving rolls down his window.

"Heidi?" He asks.

"Yes?" I don't recognize this man.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Who are you?" I ask.

"It's me, Mark. You know, Mark Johnson. _Mr. Johnson_."

I look carefully at the man and walk closer to the truck. "Oh hi Mr. Johnson. I didn't recognize you." Mr. Johnson is the dad of a friend of my brothers. Mr. Johnson's son went to high school with Adam and Brian.

"Why aren't you in school?"

"I'm going to Marie's. I have to talk to Hannah. I'm kind of lost."

"You're heading in the right direction. Hop in and I'll drive you there."

"Ok!" I run around to the passenger side door and climb in his truck. "I like your truck." It's one of those fancy new trucks. Not like the old beat-up truck we have and almost everyone else has in Murphys.

"Thanks. I just bought it."

He drives down the street and turns onto Main Street. I guess I was pretty close to it. When he turns right onto it I get confused. He should've turned left. That's the way I would've gone. But when I look more carefully I can see he went the right way. I must've walked behind Marie's! No wonder I was walking for a long time!

Mr. Johnson drives up to Marie's and pulls over on the side of the street to park in front of it. I open the door and tell him thank you. He waves goodbye and drives off as I look at Marie's. I hope Hannah's working today. I take a deep breath and walk to the door.

Marie is the first person I see.

"Heidi! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" She asks.

It's crowded in the restaurant. I look around for Hannah, but I don't see her.

"Marie, is Hannah here? I have to talk to her."

"No, she's not here yet. She should be here pretty soon though. Her shift starts soon." She looks out the window and says, "look," she points out the window, "that looks like your jeep. I think she's here."

I see our jeep driving on the street and it stops in front of Marie's and parks. I run outside to Hannah. She's getting out on the passenger's side and Crane is driving.

"Hannah! I have to talk to you!" I yell as I run up to her.

"Heidi?! What are you doing here? Is everything ok?" She kneels down as I run up to her and I see Crane jump out of the jeep fast and rush up to me.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"Hannah, I have to tell you something!"

"What?"

They're both kneeling in front of me and Crane has one of his hands on my right shoulder and Hannah has her hand on my left shoulder.

"I have to tell you Denise is coming home with me today. On the bus. She's spending the night." They're staring at me like they don't understand me and they're waiting for me to say something else. "So, that's what I came to tell you."

"What?" They both say.

"Denise is coming home with me," I tell them again.

Crane stands up and says, "you left school to tell that to Hannah?" He looks kind of mad. I stare up at him and don't answer. I think he's gonna yell. "You left school because you wanted to talk to Hannah?"

I nod my head. "You can't do that Heidi!" He sounds mad.

Hannah is still kneeling down in front of me and she says, "Heidi, you shouldn't have done that."

I look at her and I don't know what to say. She looks serious. Like she's disappointed. "I didn't want Adam to be mad at me," I finally say.

"What?!" Crane yells. I don't like Crane yelling. I'm not to used to it so I start to cry.

"I'm grounded and if Denise comes over Adam will be mad at me."

Hannah stands up and looks at me. She looks mad too.

"I'm sorry!" I yell. "Mr. Brick wouldn't let me use the phone!"

"So you just left?" Crane asks, but I think it's one of those questions I'm not supposed to answer because then he says, "the principal doesn't let you use the phone so you decide you're just going to leave school and walk to Marie's all by yourself to tell her that?"

Now that I think about it like that, it doesn't seem like a good idea.

"What if I wasn't here?" Hannah asks.

I didn't think about that. "I guess I would've asked Marie if I could use her phone to call you."

"And then what?" Crane asks. "You'd just go back to school like nothing happened?"

"Yes."

They both shake their heads at me.

"I'm sorry," I tell them again.

"You're gonna be sorry," Crane says.

"What do you mean by that?" I cry. That makes me scared.

Hannah puts her hand on Crane's arm and says, "why don't you take Heidi back to school. I'm going to call Denise's mom and explain what's going on and tell her Denise can't come over."

"No you can't do that! Denise's mom isn't home. She went to Stockton with Denise's dad. They're spending the night there. That's why I came to tell you Denise was coming home with me."

Hannah says, "then I guess she's coming over."

They both look at me like they don't know what else to say. Then Crane says, "let's go. There's nothing more to talk about here."

Hannah walks inside Marie's and Crane and I get in the jeep.

"Crane, what did you mean when you said 'you're gonna be sorry'?"

He doesn't look at me and he doesn't say anything as he drives me back to school. I don't like it.

"Crane?" He doesn't answer. I'm not used to Crane acting like this. "Crane, how come you're not talking to me?"

"Because I'm mad at you!"

"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me." He doesn't say anything. "Crane, are you going to tell Adam?"

"What?! Of course I'm going to tell Adam!"

"But I don't want you to!" I cry.

We pull into the school parking lot and Crane looks at me. "Heidi, you did a stupid thing. A dangerous thing! If you were my kid, I'd spank you right here!"

"What?!" I can't believe he just said that. That makes me cry really hard. "You don't think Adam is going to do that do you?"

"I hope he does."

"Why are you being so mean?" I cry.

"I'm not being mean. You did something terribly wrong and I don't think grounding you is going to work in this case. Get out of the jeep. I'm taking you to the office."

"Why do we have to go to the office? Why can't I just go back to class?"

"I'm sure you're going to need a note."

He's right. I will need a note. This just keeps getting worse. I wish I hadn't left school now. "Crane, Mr. Brick is going to be really mad at me."

"Yes, he is. I wouldn't be surprised if he suspended you."

I didn't even think about that. We walk into the office together and I see Isabella sitting at her desk. "Isabella!" I yell. "You're here!"

She smiles at me and says, "good morning Heidi." She stands up and walks over to the counter. "Good morning." She says to Crane. Her cheeks look pink again and she's smiling really big.

Crane smiles back and says, "I was wondering if I could talk to Mr. Brick for a minute."

"Yes. He's out of the office right now, but he should be back soon." Then she looks at me and says, "do you need a note to go to class?"

"Yes."

There's a yellow pad of late slips on the counter and she picks up a pen. "What's the reason for you being late to school?" She asks.

I look up at Crane. I don't know how to answer that.

"She left school," he says.

I can't believe he told her that! Ms. Trent looks shocked and I am too! I start to cry and Crane asks me, "you didn't think I was going to lie for you, did you?"

That just makes me cry harder. The office door opens and Mr. Brick walks in. He looks at us and says, "good morning Mr. McFadden, what seems to be the problem?"

"Heidi left school and walked all the way down to Marie's so she could talk to Hannah."

"Oh," he says. He looks like he's getting mad. His face starts to turn red and I know he's going to start yelling soon. "Let's go into my office."

He walks towards his office and Crane and I follow him. When he walks in he turns around and says, "Heidi, wait outside here on the bench." Then Crane walks in and he shuts the door.

I sit down on the bench and cry. I am in so much trouble. Usually when I cry in the office, it's just quietly, but today I can't control it. Ms. Trent comes over and sits next to me. I feel her put her hand on my back and she rubs it.

"Here," she says as she hands me a tissue.

I take it from her and wipe my runny nose. "Thanks."

She sits with me and helps me calm down. After a while I'm done crying. At least I'm done crying hard.

"Isabella, I mean, Ms. Trent, do you think I'll get suspended?"

"I don't know. You might."

"I'm not supposed to get suspended anymore. Adam will be really mad if I do."

"You shouldn't have left school," she says.

"Mr. Brick wouldn't let me use the phone." I tell her the whole story while she rubs my back. Then I ask her if she's ever been suspended.

"No," she says.

"Do you live alone?" I ask her.

"No. I live with my uncle and his wife."

"What's his name?" I ask. She doesn't get to answer because Mr. Brick's door opens and he tells me to come inside. We both stand up and I hear her whisper good luck to me. By the look on Mr. Brick's face, I think I'm going to need it. I walk into his office and he shuts the door.

When I walk into my classroom I hand my late slip to Mrs. Wilson. She reads it and lays it on her desk and I walk to my desk. Talking with Mr. Brick went really badly. I am in so much trouble, but he let me stay at school and go to class.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Denise whispers to me as I sit down.

"I left school."

"What?!" That's not a whisper and Mrs. Wilson says, "girls, no talking."

I take my math book out and turn to the page we're working on. Everyone is working quietly and Mrs. Wilson is walking around helping people.

I lean over and whisper to Denise, "Mr. Brick wouldn't let me use the phone so I left school and went to Marie's to see if Hannah was there. I am in so much trouble! But she knows you're coming over now."

"Girls, get to work," Mrs. Wilson says to us. We do after I whisper to Denise, "I'll tell you at recess."

* * *

Denise rode the bus home with me. It was nice having someone to sit next to and talk to. There's no one that I really like that rides my bus, so I usually sit by myself. Guthrie always rides in the back of the bus with his friends. I don't mind sitting alone, but it's fun having Denise here.

The three of us get off the bus at our stop and walk the short distance to our ranch. I'm dreading going home. I think I'm in big trouble and I hope Adam isn't home. I even hope Crane isn't home! I hope no one is home! I should be happy right now because Denise is here and it's her first time to come over. I was looking forward to telling her about all our animals and our ranch. Right now Guthrie is doing that while we walk on the driveway to the house. I'm glad they're excited. I follow behind them slowly. The jeep is here, but not the truck. I hope that means Adam is somewhere else.

When we walk up the porch steps Denise says, "wow! This is your house?! It's huge!"

My house is bigger than Denise's. She lives in a small one story house in town. When we walk inside she stops and looks around. "Come on!" Guthrie yells, and he runs up the stairs with us following behind him. He takes Denise on a tour and I follow slowly behind them. When they run downstairs Hannah comes out of the kitchen and says, "there you are! Come in and have some cookies."

We follow her into the kitchen and sit down at the table. Hannah, Denise and Guthrie talk excitedly about the day while I sit quietly. I'm not even listening to them. I'm thinking. I'm thinking about how I can get out of being in trouble. I haven't told Guthrie what I did yet. Normally I would have because he could help me think of a plan to get out of trouble. But I don't want to ruin Denise's fun. So I sit here quietly getting a bad feeling in my stomach.

I'm not eating any cookies and Hannah isn't asking why. She knows why. I hear the front door open and I can tell by the voices talking that it's Crane and Adam. When they walk into the kitchen they say hello to Denise and seem happy as they talk to her, Guthrie and Hannah. Neither one of them has looked at me yet. Maybe Crane didn't tell Adam yet. I start to feel better until Adam looks at me and says, "Heidi, I need to talk to you."

He doesn't yell that, he just says it seriously and without a smile. I just stare at him.

"Heidi, I want to talk to you now. Come with me." He stares down at me and I stare back at him and don't move. I can feel everyone staring at me. I don't want to get up and I certainly don't want to go anywhere with him.

"Heidi, you have a friend over right now and I'd rather not have to _talk_ to you in front of her."

I look at Denise and she looks sad. I'd rather stay in here because maybe he won't yell at me as much in front of her. But then I look back at Adam and he looks mad now. Very mad!

"Come with me. I'm not going to ask you again," he says. He sounds calm but his face isn't. I start to cry as I stand up and walk over to him. Adam looks at Hannah and says, "we'll be back in a little bit. We're going out to the barn for a little while."

Hannah nods her head and I look at Guthrie before I leave and his eyes look sad. I follow Adam into the living room and to the front door.

* * *

We've been quiet since we left the house, but now that we're outside and getting closer to the barn I want to slow down and find out why we're going to the barn.

"Why are we going to the barn?" I ask. "Is it because you're going to yell at me and you don't want Denise to hear?"

"That's part of it." He says. Adam usually takes Daniel, Evan and Ford out to the barn when he wants to yell at them and doesn't want to do it in front of me and Guthrie. I think he swears at them sometimes.

"Adam, are you going to swear at me?"

"No."

"Are you going to yell at me?" When he doesn't answer me a horrible thought pops into my head. I remember what Crane said earlier to me. He said if I were his kid he'd spank me. "Adam, are you gonna spank me!" I'm scared now, especially when he doesn't answer. I stop walking. "I'm not going in there with you!" I yell. He stops walking too and turns around.

"_Yes_ you _are_," he says seriously.

I stomp my foot and yell, "no I'm not! I'm not going in there with you! I'm gonna run away!" I take off running but Adam catches me fast and says, "you're not going anywhere except into the barn with me."

I try to get away from him as he holds my upper arm and leads me to the barn. I try to pull my arm away and when that doesn't work I stop walking so he has to drag me. He never likes it when I do that, but instead of picking me up like he usually does, he gives me one hard spank and says, "walk!"

I cry and walk with him. He's walking faster now and he's still holding on to my arm so I practically have to run to keep up with him. "Adam, slow down!" I cry.

I don't think he heard me because he's not slowing down. We're almost to the barn now and I'm scared so I start yelling. "I'm sorry Adam! I'm sorry I left school! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Please stop, I'm sorry!"

He just keeps walking right into the barn. He turns on the light and closes the big barn doors and when he turns around and looks at me, I know the yelling is going to begin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you for the great reviews!**

* * *

I was right. As soon as the barn doors close, the yelling starts, and I start crying.

"You don't EVER leave school! EVER!" He's looking down at me and he's really, really mad. "That was so dangerous! Anything could've happened to you!"

I don't know what he's talking about when he says _anything_. I guess he knows what I'm thinking.

"You could've gotten hurt and no one would've known where you were to help! You..," I interrupt him.

"That's not true! Someone did help me!"

"What?!"

"I didn't know where I was and...," now he interrupts me.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WERE?! WHERE WERE YOU?!"

I don't think I should've said that. I don't answer I don't even look at him. I look down at the ground.

"YOU ARE GOING TO LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW AND ANSWER ME! WHERE WERE YOU?!"

I look up at him and while I'm crying I tell him, "I was on the side streets."

He just looks at me and doesn't say anything for a while before saying, "who helped you?"

"Mr. Johnson. He took me to Marie's."

"You want to know another bad thing that could've happened to you? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

What? "But I knew him."

"Right, but what if it was someone you didn't know? Would you have gotten in the car?"

"No!"

"What if they forced you to get in the car?"

"I would've run away!"

"Like you just tried to do a minute ago?"

"Yes!"

"How far did you get just now?"

I think for a minute and then I don't answer.

"How far did you get Heidi?"

"No where," I say very quietly.

"Exactly! Anyone could've driven up to you, got out of the car and grabbed you!"

"But I would've screamed!"

"So. Was there anyone around to hear you?"

I shake my head no.

"Do you see now how dangerous it is to leave school?"

I nod my head yes.

"Good. We have other things to talk about, but I wanted to talk about leaving school first. I want you to know it is NEVER ok to leave school, and to help you remember that I'm going to spank you."

"What?! No you can't! I was just...,"

"Don't EVER tell me I can't do something. I want you to know how serious leaving school is. There is no excuse for it." When I try to talk he says, "NO! There is no excuse! Do you understand me?"

I look down at the ground and cry. He crouches down in front of me and lifts my chin up with his hand. "Do you understand me?" He asks in his serious voice.

The tears fall down my cheeks and I nod my head yes. He stands up and takes my hand and leads me over to some hay bales. "Nooooo," I whine as I try to pull away.

He sits down on a stack of two bales and moves me so I'm standing in-between his legs and he lifts my chin up so we can see eye to eye. "I want you to tell me why you are being spanked right now."

"Because I left school," I cry.

"That's right."

"I'm sorry Adam. I won't leave school again, I promise! Please don't spank me!" I yell as he lifts me up and lays me over his lap. He starts spanking me right away and it hurts. I cry and yell and try to get away, but he holds me tight with his other hand. "Owww! I'm sorry!" It hurts so bad! Then it stops and it's over.

Adam lifts me up and I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tight. He hugs me and rubs my back while I cry on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I cry. "That hurt Adam. I don't like it when you do that."

"It's supposed to hurt and you're not supposed to like it," he says quietly. "I don't like having to do that, but I will when I have to, and this was one of those times. Look at me." I stop hugging him and lean back a little so I can look into his eyes. "If you leave school again I am going to spank you longer and harder than I just did. Do you understand me?"

I nod my head and cry harder. He hugs me again and I hug him tight. He rocks me a little and rubs my back. He keeps doing that as I start to calm down. "Adam?"

"What?" He says quietly.

"I'm sorry for leaving school. I don't want to get kidnaped!" I start crying hard again. "I didn't think about that."

"Sh. That's why I want you to think 'before' you do stuff." He keeps rubbing my back and rocking me slowly.

We stay like that for a long time, until I calm down.

"We have to talk about something else now Heidi."

"What?" I say quietly with my head on his shoulder.

"The reason why you left school."

"Are you going to spank me again?"

He rubs my back and says, "I'm not planning on it."

"That's not a no."

"I know. I told you Heidi, I don't like spanking you, but I will if I have to." I sigh and he says, "tell me why you left school."

I lean back to look at him. I'm kneeling on his lap and he looks down at me. "I left because Mr. Brick wouldn't let me use the phone to call home."

"How do you feel about that now?"

"It was wrong. Adam, I didn't want to get in trouble for Denise coming home with me. Yesterday when you grounded me you forgot she was coming over."

"I did forget. Is that why you were asking me all those questions about what you could or couldn't do when you're grounded? You thought it would be ok for her to come over if I didn't say she couldn't?"

I nod my head. "But when I got to school, I changed my mind. I told her she shouldn't come over, but she said she had to. I tried to do the right thing, but it didn't work."

"I'm glad you decided she shouldn't come over."

"But I should've told you sooner."

"Right. When should you have told me?"

"In the morning?"

"You could have. What would've been an even better time to tell me?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know."

"Think," he says as he stares at me.

I sigh and think. "When I went to bed?"

"That also would've been a good time, but there was an even better time."

"I don't know! It's too hard to think!"

"You can do it. When should you have told me, or reminded me Denise was coming over?"

I think really hard. "Oh. When you grounded me."

"Right. As soon as I said you were grounded you should've reminded me she was coming over."

"But what if I forgot? _You_ forgot!"

"_Did_ you forget?"

I look down and quietly say, "no."

"That's what I thought. What happened when you didn't remind me?"

"I got in trouble."

"I want you to think and tell me everything that happened because you didn't tell me right away that Denise was coming over."

"I wouldn't have gotten in trouble?"

"Keep thinking."

I stare at him for a long time before saying, "oh, I know! I wouldn't have had to call home and I wouldn't have left school!"

"Right."

"I wouldn't have gotten spanked either."

"Right."

"Adam, it's really hard to think of all that stuff before I do something wrong."

"I know it's hard for you that's why I'm going to keep reminding you." He hugs me. "Now, we need to talk about Denise."

"What about her?"

"While she's here, you're not grounded. You..,"

"Why not?!" I lean back so I can look at him.

"Because that wouldn't be fair to her. Let me be perfectly clear, I do _not_ like the fact that she's here. If I had remembered she was coming over, and if you had reminded me she was coming over, she would not be here right now. If her family was home I would drive her there right now. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"But since she has to be here it would not be fair to her to not be able to play with you."

"So I'm not grounded?!" I yell happily.

"While she's here, you're not grounded. As soon as she goes back home you are."

"Thank you!" I throw my arms around him.

He hugs me back and then says, "I think you should get back to the house. Your friend is waiting for you and I need to get some work done now."

"No. I want you to come back with me." I don't know why I said that. I just feel like I want him to stay with me. He looks at me kind of funny.

"I need to do some work. Go back to the house and play with Denise."

I hug him really tight. "No. Come with me."

"What is wrong with you?" He tries to put me down. "Let go Heidi."

"No! Please come back with me." I'm practically trying to climb up him.

"Whoa! What's gotten into you?!" He stands up with me and I hold on tight. "Heidi?"

"I don't know, I just don't want you to leave me."

"I'm not leaving you. I'm going to be right out here working."

"No, I want you to come inside with me!" I start crying.

"Ok. Heidi, ok. I don't know what's wrong with you. I'll come to the house with you." He carries me out of the barn and we walk towards the house. "I'm not leaving you. Why don't I put you down and then you can walk with me. You can hold my hand."

I shake my head no. "Carry me."

He carries me all the way to the house and up the porch steps. When we get to the door he says, "do you want to get down now?"

"No!"

He carries me inside and into the kitchen where Denise is. Denise isn't shy so she's laughing and talking with my brothers and Hannah. Ford, Evan and Daniel are home from school now so it's loud in here. Adam tries to set me down but I'm not letting go. He whispers in my ear, "let go please."

"I can't," I whisper back.

He sighs and walks over to Hannah. "What's wrong?" She asks quietly.

"I don't know. She won't let me go."

I'm looking at everyone else and even though Adam and Hannah are whispering to each other I can still hear them.

"Did you," Hannah pauses and then says, "you know?"

"Yes," Adam says. She must be asking him if he spanked me.

"Adam, sometimes when kids get spanked they get kind of clingy. Sometimes they hate you and want to be as far away from you as possible, but sometimes they're afraid you don't love them anymore so they either get mad about that, or they get clingy. She probably just needs to be reminded that you still love her."

I wonder if she's right. Is that why I feel this way? I don't think I know what she's talking about, all I know is I don't want Adam to leave me.

"She keeps saying she doesn't want me to leave her," he whispers.

"Oh. I wonder if she thinks you don't love her because she did something wrong, and she's afraid you'll leave her because of it."

What does she mean by that? All I know is I don't want Adam to leave.

"Heidi?" Hannah says. I look at her and she says quietly, "Adam has to go outside and work now. You need to let him go and then when he's done working he'll come back and see how you're doing."

"No. I don't want him to go."

"Look, Denise is here," she says. "You guys have been waiting a long time for this sleepover. Why don't you take her out to the barn and show her Lucy."

I sigh and Adam says, "it's Friday night. How about I watch the Dukes of Hazard with you. You are going to watch it aren't you?"

I smile at him. "Yes." I start to feel excited. "Hannah said we could have popcorn and soda too!"

"That sounds like fun," Adam says. "I'm going to put you down now and go outside to finish my work. You play with Denise."

"Ok." He sets me down and I walk over to Denise. I look out of the corner of my eye and watch Adam and Hannah smile at each other and then hug. They're whispering something and then Adam gives her a kiss and walks out of the kitchen.

Soon I'm listening to the conversation going on around me and then I whisper to Guthrie, "we have to make a phone call."

"Right!"

"Come on Denise," I say and I grab her arm and the three of us run out of the kitchen. "Get the phone book," I tell Guthrie.

* * *

We run upstairs and take the phone off the little table it sits on outside the boy's room. We bring it into the room and shut the door as best as we can with the cord pulled as tight as it can be from the wall in the hallway.

"What are we doing?" Denise asks.

We explain to Denise how Crane and Ms. Trent would be perfect for each other and we tell about our plan to invite her over for dinner.

"You're going to pretend to be Crane?" She asks Guthrie.

"Sure. Evan, Ford and Daniel pretend to be Adam all the time on the phone when they get in trouble at school."

"And it works?" She asks.

I smile and nod. "Most of the time."

"Ok! This sounds like fun!"

Good. I'm glad Denise is ok with the plan. Sometimes she doesn't like to do things that might get her in trouble. "I think Crane and Isabella would be perfect for each other!" She says.

Guthrie opens the phone book and says, "are you sure she's staying with someone with the last name of Wyatt?"

"I think so. Why do you think there are three Wyatts in the phone book?"

"Who knows, let's call the first one," Guthrie says. He picks up the phone and dials.

"Hold the phone out so we can hear." He does and we crowd around him to listen. We hear the phone ringing and someone picks it up and says hello. It's a man's voice.

Guthrie makes his voice sound really low and I have to cover my mouth with my hand to keep my laugh from sounding too loud. "Sh!" Denise says, but she's laughing too.

"Does Isabella Trent live here?" Guthrie asks.

"Who? Who is this?" The man sounds angry and Denise and I can't stop laughing.

Guthrie covers the mouth piece of the phone with his hand and says, "sh! Be quiet!"

"This is Crane. Is Ms. Trent home?"

"Isabella lives with my cousin. You have the wrong number. Who did you..,"

Guthrie hangs up the phone and we all laugh.

"You should've asked which cousin," Denise says.

"Let's call the next number," I say.

Guthrie dials and we listen.

"Hello?"

It's a girl! "Isabella?" Guthrie asks, but he uses his normal voice. Denise and I gasp so he makes his voice sound deep again and he says, "is this Isabella?"

"No. Who is this?"

"Does Isabella live here?" Guthrie asks.

"No. Who is this? Is that you Scott? Is this a crank call?"

Guthrie hangs up the phone and we all three laugh again. Then I say, "the last number has to be hers!"

Guthrie dials and takes a big breath and then exhales. We listen to the phone ringing and Denise says, "remember to use your deep voice." Guthrie nods and we can hear someone answer the phone.

"Hello?" A lady's voice says.

"Hello, is Isabella home?"

"Just a minute."

We all gasp and Guthrie covers the phone with his hand. "What do I say?!" He whispers.

"Ask her to come over for dinner on Sunday night," I whisper back.

"Hello?" It sounds just like Isabella!

Guthrie clears his throat and I look at him and his cheeks are both pink. Then he says, "can you come over for dinner?"

I jab him in his side and he yells, "ow!" And glares at me.

I whisper, "you didn't tell her your name!"

"Who is this?" She asks.

Guthrie tries again, "hello, this is Crane. Can you come over for dinner on Sunday?"

"_Who_ is this?"

"Crane. Crane McFadden." Guthrie looks at me and shrugs his shoulders, so I mouth, tell her _our_ names. "Um, you remember, Heidi and Guthrie McFadden's brother?"

The phone is quiet for a little bit and then she says, "oh yes. Hi Crane." She sounds like she's smiling.

"Hi, can you come over for dinner on Sunday?"

"At your house?"

Guthrie looks at me and says, "yes." Then he mouths to me, "what should I say? Should I hang up?"

"No! Don't hang up! Tell her what our address is!"

"Crane?" Isabella says. "Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here. Can you come over to eat dinner on Sunday?"

"Is this a crank call?" She asks.

"No!" Guthrie says in his normal voice.

"Guthrie!" I yell.

"Who is this?" Isabella asks.

"Crane McFadden. I'd like you to come over for dinner."

"But I don't even know where you live."

Guthrie covers the mouth piece with his hand and whispers, "should I tell her I'll pick her up?"

"No," I whisper back. "How are we gonna tell Crane to do that. Give her our address."

"We live off of highway four. The Circle Bar Seven Ranch."

"Ok."

"You'll come?!" Guthrie yells excitedly in his normal voice and then talks slower and deeper, "I mean, you'll come?"

"Ok. What time should I be there?"

We all three look at each other and I whisper, "tell her five o'clock."

"Five o'clock," Guthrie says into the phone.

"Ok."

"Ok. Bye Isabella."

"Bye Crane."

Guthrie hangs up the phone and we all yell, "we did it!" We jump up and down and give each other high-fives. We're happy for a minute until Denise says, "what are you gonna do now?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"She's just gonna come over to your house and say she's here for dinner and everybody's gonna be ok with that?"

Guthrie and I look at each other. We didn't think about that. "How are we gonna tell Crane?" Guthrie asks.

"Maybe we won't have to. _Maybe_ we could just tell him we invited someone special over or dinner."

"Yeah! Only we won't tell _him_, we'll tell Hannah! Then Crane won't suspect anything!"

Denise asks, "won't Hannah ask you who it is?"

"We'll just say it's someone special."

The door opens and Ford is standing in the doorway. He looks at the phone and then at us. "What are you guys doing with the phone? You're not crank calling people are you?!"

"No!" We all yell.

"You better not be!"

We ignore him and Guthrie puts the phone back. I grab Denise's hand and say, "come on! I'll show you how to ride Lucy!" We run out of the room and down the hallway. Ford yells after us, "wait for someone to help her ride!"

"We will!" I yell as the three of us run down the stairs.

* * *

"I'm scared," Denise says.

"There's nothing to be scared of. Lucy's really nice. She won't hurt you," I tell her. We're standing on some hay bales that are stacked up two high and I'm holding onto Lucy's rope. She's all saddled up and ready to ride, I just need to get Denise to sit on her.

"Heidi, you should wait for Evan to come help," Guthrie says.

"Why? I can help her." I pat Lucy's saddle. "Sit on it Denise. You can do it. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Ok," she says, only her voice doesn't sound ok. It sounds scared, but she puts her foot in the stirrup and swings her right leg up and over the saddle and sits down.

"See. Nothing to be scared of. How do you feel?"

"Ok, I guess. It's not that scary after all!"

"Ok. Now I'm gonna show you how to ride her." I show her how to pull on the reins to make Lucy go and turn and stop. "Do you got all that?"

"I think so," she says. She shows me and she does it right.

"Good! Then go!" I yell and I give Lucy a pat on her rump. She neighs and starts walking.

"Whoa!" Denise says. "Not so fast Lucy."

"That's not fast!" I yell. "She's walking very slow."

"How do I get her to stop?!" Denise yells.

"Remember how I showed you to pull on her reins?!"

"No! I can't remember!"

"What do you mean you can't remember?! I just showed you!" I jump off the hay bale and run to Lucy. "Pull back on...," I try to jump up and pull Lucy's rein, but I can't reach it. Lucy starts walking faster.

"Heidi, I'm scared! Make her stop!"

"I'm trying! Don't panic!" I yell at her. Both me and Guthrie follow Lucy to try to get her to stand still. She starts walking faster and then for some reason she takes off! She runs around the fenced off area and Denise starts screaming. The saddle is sliding off Lucy's back so Denise is hanging sideways a little bit. She's crying now.

"Whoa Lucy! Whoa!" Evan yells as he runs up to her and he grabs a hold of Lucy's reins by the bit and pulls her to a stop. Then he lifts Denise off the saddle and I run up to her and hug her.

"I'm sorry Denise," I tell her. She's crying pretty hard.

Guthrie asks Evan, "how come the saddle was sliding off?"

Evan looks at the saddle. "I don't know." He looks more carefully at the flank cinch and says, "it looks like the buckle here is broken. I don't even know how you buckled this Heidi." Evan takes the saddle off and says, "I'm gonna see if I can fix it. Are you ok Denise?"

Denise nods her head, but she's still crying. We follow Evan inside the barn and he looks at the buckle. "Heidi, you should've waited for me to help."

"Why? I always put my own saddle on now. I'm big enough. I showed Denise how to ride too."

"But that's not what you do when someone first rides a horse. You don't put them in the saddle and say, go."

"I didn't! I showed her how to pull on the reins and everything!"

"When someone gets on a horse for the first time you put them in the saddle, make sure you have a lead rope on the horse, and walk the horse around by the rope. You know this stuff Heidi. You've seen us do that with lots of people who have never ridden before."

I think about that for a minute while Evan looks at the buckle. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry Denise." I look at her and her face is all dirty. She has dirt streaks on her face from her tears and her eyes are a little red. "Do you want to go to the house to wash your face? It has dirt on it."

"Ok."

As we walk to the house I keep telling her how sorry I am and she keeps saying she's ok.

"Do you think you'll ever want to ride a horse again?" I ask her.

"I don't know. That was really scary."

"What if you got on Lucy again and Evan walked you around? Do you want to try that?" I don't want her to be afraid of horses.

"I guess I could try that. I don't know."

When we walk inside the first thing Crane and Hannah want to know is what happened to Denise. I tell them and Hannah hugs her and leads her into the kitchen to help her clean up. When Crane follows them I call him back.

"Crane, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. What's up?" He looks down at me and I take his hand and walk him to the couch so we can sit down. Only I don't sit down I stand in front of him where he's sitting down.

"I'm sorry I left school today." He stares at me and doesn't say anything. "Crane, I'm sorry. I won't do it again. I promise." He still doesn't say anything and that makes me sad so I start crying. "Why won't you say anything?"

He lifts me up so he can hold me on his lap and he says, "I was so mad at you."

"I'm sorry. Are you still mad at me?"

"I just kept thinking of all the bad things that could've happened to you and it made me scared. I don't want to lose you Heidi."

I never thought about that. "I'm sorry I scared you." He hugs me tight and I whisper in his ear, "Adam spanked me for it."

I feel him squeeze me tighter and he says, "good. I hope you remember that spanking and never leave school again. Heidi, I was so close to spanking you myself. What you did was so dangerous!"

"I know. Adam told me that too. He said I could've gotten kidnapped."

We hug each other and I ask, "are you still mad at me?"

"No twerp. I could never stay mad at you." He kisses the top of my head and I say, "I love you Crane."

"I love you too."

We stay there hugging each other until Hannah and Denise come out of the kitchen. "You've got about an hour before dinner. Why don't you two go do something outside."

I get off Crane's lap and ask Denise, "do you want to try riding Lucy again? With Evan's help, of course." I smile really big and she smiles back and nods her head. "Good! Let's go! I'll race you!"

We take off for the door and once we're outside we run as fast as we can to the barn.

* * *

Evan fixed my saddle and Denise rode Lucy with Evan leading Lucy around. Denise said she liked it and wasn't scared. Evan said maybe tomorrow we could let her practice riding on her own.

At dinnertime everyone is talking about their day and laughing about things and having fun like we normally do while we eat. I wonder what Denise is thinking about all the noise. She's an only child and when I spent the night at her house dinnertime was quiet. Not quiet, quiet. Just not a whole bunch of conversations like there are now. I watch Denise and she's talking to Hannah. I'm glad she's not shy.

"Heidi," Guthrie says. "We need to tell Hannah about 'you know what'."

"Right!" I turn to Hannah and say, "guess what Hannah?!"

"What?" She's smiling really big at me.

"We invited someone special to come over for dinner on Sunday!" I tell her.

"Who?"

"It's someone _really_ special," Guthrie says.

"Yeah! It's a secret," I say as I smile really big.

"What are you two up to?" She asks.

She's still smiling so I say, "we're not up to anything. We just invited someone over for dinner."

"And you won't tell me who it is?"

"Nope!" Both Guthrie and I say and then me, him and Denise start to laugh.

"You know too?" Hannah asks Denise.

"Yep!"

"Hmmm. I don't know what you're up to, but I'll make sure to cook a little extra for our mystery guest."

"Good! She's gonna love your cooking!" I say.

Guthrie kicks me under the table and Hannah says, "so it's a girl?"

"Maybe. You'll find out at five o'clock on Sunday."

"Ok, but I'm going to talk to Adam about this. I'll see what he has to say about it," Hannah says and then she turns to Denise and says, "are you ready for dessert? It's chocolate cream pie."

"Yum! That sounds good!"

"It _is_ good," Guthrie says.

Hannah gets up to get dessert ready and Guthrie, Denise and I smile at each other because our plan is working.

* * *

After dinner Evan and Ford help get the tv out and get it ready for us to watch the Dukes of Hazard. We keep our tv over in a corner of the living room because we don't watch it that much. It's an old black and white tv and because we live out in the middle of nowhere, we don't get good reception. So Evan and Ford get the room set up. They move the coffee table against the couch closest to the stairs so it's not in the middle of the couches anymore. Then they put the tv on top of it. They don't plug it in yet because we still have over an hour before the show starts.

While we wait we wrestle. I love wrestling with my brothers. We do it all the time. Denise says she wants to play so I tell her there are no rules except no biting, scratching or hair pulling, and if you want someone to stop you have to say uncle. Then Evan and Ford kneel down and Guthrie jumps on Ford and I jump on Evan.

"Come on Denise! Help me pin him to the floor!" She's obviously never played before because she just watches at first so I yell, "jump on his back and try to pull him off me!" Evan already has me down. Denise tries to pull him off, but she can't. "Guthrie! Help me!" I look over at Guthrie and Ford pretty much has him pinned so I yell, "Denise, help free Guthrie! Then he can help me."

We play wrestle for a while until we're all sweaty, hot, and tired. Crane, Brian, and Daniel walk in from the kitchen and Daniel asks Evan and Ford if they want to go into town with them. It's Friday night so usually my brothers go into town. Crane and Brian go to the local bar and Daniel usually has a gig with his band and Evan and Ford either go listen to Daniel's band or they go to a party at a friends house.

"Aw come on you guys!" I yell. "None of you ever stay home to watch the Dukes of Hazard with us anymore!"

Crane smiles at me and picks me up and swings me around. "That's because we'd rather go out!" I laugh and he sets me down.

"Are you going to meet giiiirls?" Guthrie teases.

"Maybe."

"You didn't meet a girl last night did you!" I ask. I hope he didn't!

"No. Why do you look so scared Heidi?"

"I'm not scared." I smile again. "See?"

Brian picks me up by swinging me up to him and I laugh. "Why are you so concerned about Crane meeting a girl and not me?" He asks.

"Because you have LOTS of girlfriends already! You don't need anymore!"

Everyone laughs and agrees with that. Then they all grab their coats and head out the front door. "Don't wait up!" Brian says to us as he puts me down.

"Wait!" Adam yells at all of them. "Remember not to make too much noise when you come home. We've got little kids sleeping down here tonight!"

"We're not little!" I yell.

Adam ignores me and says, "no drinking and driving! Evan, Ford, no drinking period!"

"Ok dad!" There's lots of laughing and Adam says, "don't call me dad!" My brothers always tease him about being the dad.

"Ok _big_ brother!"

As soon as the door closes Hannah says, "come help me get the popcorn popped."

Guthrie, Denise and I follow Hannah into the kitchen to help. Denise and I help Hannah pop the popcorn and Guthrie gets the sodas out. When the phone rings Guthrie yells, "I got it!"

"No, I got it!" Adam says since he's closer to the phone. After a little while Adam comes into the kitchen.

"Who was that on the phone?" Hannah asks.

"Someone for Crane. She said her name was Isabella."

Guthrie, Denise and I all look at each other and our eyes get big. "How'd she get our phone number?" I whisper to Guthrie.

"Probably the same way we got hers." Guthrie whispers.

"I wonder what she wants," Denise whispers.

"I don't think I want to know," Guthrie says sadly.

"Me either," I say. "Somehow I think she's gonna ask Crane about dinner and then I think we're gonna get in trouble for this."


	5. Chapter 5

Guthrie, Denise, and I walk into the living room to talk about Isabella's phone call.

"What should we do?" I ask. "Should we tell Crane what we did?"

"I don't know," Guthrie says. "Maybe."

Denise says, "you guys already told Hannah someone was coming over for dinner on Sunday, why don't you just tell her what you did?"

Guthrie and I look at each other. "I don't know," I say slowly. "That seems like we're just asking to be in trouble."

"Heidi, we already 'are' in trouble. They're gonna find out what we did and I don't think they're gonna be happy about it."

"You guys should just say something now," Denise says. "Then you don't have to think about it anymore."

Adam and Hannah bring the popcorn. "Go get your sodas."

The three of us go into the kitchen to get our Cokes and decide we'll tell them about calling Ms. Trent after the Dukes of Hazard is over.

* * *

We don't watch a whole lot of TV in our house, so when we do, me and Guthrie get really excited. The lights are turned off, popcorn is made and we sing the theme song as loud as we can. Denise is having a lot of fun too. We're lined up on the couch, Guthrie, Hannah, Adam, me, and Denise. I scoot close to Adam and he puts his arm around me so I can lean against him. The best part about watching TV for me is watching with my family. When my brothers were younger we'd all watch together and have fun laughing at the shows. Now it's usually just me, Hannah, Adam and Guthrie that watch. That's ok, because we still have fun with just the four of us. It's fun because we're doing something together.

After the show is over Hannah tells us to get ready for bed. We all help clean up the popcorn and soda mess before going upstairs. But before Denise and I can leave the kitchen, Guthrie pulls on my arm and keeps me here.

"Um, Adam? Hannah? We kind of have something we need to tell you guys," Guthrie says.

I don't think I want him to tell, so I quickly say, "no we don't!"

"Yes we do!"

I glare at Guthrie and say, "wait!" Then I look at Adam and say, "you know how that girl Isabella called earlier for Crane?"

Hannah looks at me and Adam folds his arms across his chest and says, "yeah?"

"What did she want?" I ask.

Adam glares at me and says, "why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious."

"Why do I get the feeling you know something about this phone call?" Adam asks.

Guthrie says, "we..," but I interrupt him.

"We don't know anything. I'm just wondering if she said why she wanted to talk to Crane."

"Do _you_ know why she called?" Adam asks me.

I shake my head no really fast.

"We called her," Guthrie blurts out.

I shove him and yell, "why'd you say that!"

"Don't push him!" Adam yells and Hannah says, "Denise, why don't we go upstairs for a little while."

She leads Denise out of the kitchen and once they're gone Adam asks, "why'd you call her?"

We're both quiet and Adam looks at us with his really serious face. He's waiting for us to answer so I glare at Guthrie and yell, "you wanted to tell! Go ahead and tell him!"

"Would you stop yelling," Adam says. I fold my arms across my chest and glare at Adam. "Don't glare at me either Heidi." Then he looks at Guthrie and says, "what do you mean you called her?"

"We wanted to invite her over for dinner," Guthrie tells him.

"Hannah told me you we're talking about someone special coming over for dinner on Sunday. Is this who you meant?"

"Yes."

"'Why' are you inviting her over for dinner?"

"Because we wanted tooooo?" I say hopefully.

"Heidi! I don't like it when you answer like that!"

"Like whaaaat?"

"Like that!" He yells. "Obviously I know you _wanted_ to. Why else did you invite her over?" He looks at Guthrie now.

"Because we thought Crane would like to meet her."

I whisper meanly into Guthrie's ear, "you're always telling _me_ not to talk! What about you?!"

Adam looks at me and points to a chair at the table and says, "sit down!"

I stomp over to the chair and sit down with a loud, "humph!"

Adam looks at me and says in his serious voice, "Heidi, is this how you want to act right now with your friend here? She's upstairs with Hannah right now waiting for you. How do you think she's feeling right now?"

I didn't think about that. Now I feel bad. "Sorry," I say quietly.

"Is Isabella the secretary at your school?"

"Yes," Guthrie tells him.

Adam looks at me and says, "I thought I told you to leave Crane alone. I know Hannah told you not to bother the secretary and she told you to mind your own business."

"How do you know that?!"

"Because she told me."

"Why does she always have to tell on me?!"

"She wasn't _telling_ on you, she was telling me she thought it was cute that you were wanting the secretary and Crane to get together."

"She did? Do you think it's cute?" I ask while smiling up at him hopefully.

"Not if you're inviting her over to dinner."

"But adults do that all the time!"

"Yeah!" Guthrie says. "People go out on blind dates all the time!"

Adam doesn't say anything for a while and then he says, "I want both of you to leave the secretary..., what's her name?"

"Isabella."

"I want you to leave Isabella and Crane alone. Understand?"

We both say yes.

"Good. I'll talk to Crane tomorrow and see if wants to cancel, or if he still wants her to come over."

"I bet he will," I say while smiling.

"Well if he does that's none of your business," Adam says. His eyes are smiling when he says that. "How did you get Isabella to say yes? That seems a little odd to me."

Guthrie and I look at each other and I plead with my eyes for him not to say we pretended to be Crane. Adam hates it when we pretend to be him on the phone. A few weeks ago Daniel pretended to be Adam when he called Evan's teacher. Evan got in trouble for not doing his math homework and his teacher wanted to talk to Adam. I don't know how Adam found out, but he was really mad when he did. So now I look at Guthrie and plead with my eyes for him not to tell that we pretended to be Crane.

When Guthrie doesn't say anything I tell Adam, "Isabella wanted to come over because she likes us. And because I told her Crane would like it if she came over."

"Ok. Why don't you two go get ready for bed now and leave the matchmaking to Crane and Isabella."

"Ok." We walk out of the kitchen with Adam following behind us. He's going to get sleeping bags out for me and Denise so we can sleep in the living room. My room is way too small for someone to sleep on the floor. As Guthrie and I walk up the stairs I whisper, "thanks for not telling we pretended to be Crane."

"Maybe they won't find out. Maybe Adam will just tell Crane we invited her and she'll never tell him we pretended to be him."

"Hey, maybe we could call her and tell her we were pretending to be Crane."

"Heidi, we're not supposed to interfere anymore."

"Adam didn't say that. He said to mind our own business."

"That's the same thing."

"But this _is_ our business. _We_ called her, so _we_ should be able to tell her what we did."

"I'm not doing that Heidi. If you want to do that you have to do it by yourself."

"Ok, tomorrow I will."

"You'll be making a big mistake," he says.

"Not if I can convince her not to tell we pretended to be Crane." I smile at Guthrie and go into Adam and Hannah's room where Denise is. "Sorry Denise." Her and Hannah are sitting on the bed and Hannah's jewelry box is in between them.

"That's ok. Hannah's showing me some of her jewelry. Did you get in trouble?"

"No. Adam just told us to mind our own business."

"That's what _I_ told you to do," Hannah says. She's smiling at me and I smile back.

"Adam said _you_ thought it was cute that I wanted Crane and Isabella to get together."

"He did, did he?"

"Yep! _He_ told on _you_!" I laugh.

She laughs too and says, "I'll have to talk to him about that." She starts putting her jewelry back in the box and says, "you two go get ready for bed."

We both say ok and leave her room. We go to my room so we can put our pajamas on and get ready for bed.

* * *

After we're ready for bed Adam, Hannah and Guthrie play Sorry! and then Clue with us. At ten o'clock Hannah says it's time for bed, but we can stay up until eleven o'clock if we talk quietly. When it's eleven she says we have to go to sleep. We get all settled in our sleeping bags and Guthrie goes upstairs to the boys' room to sleep on one of the bunk beds. Adam and Hannah say goodnight and Hannah says, "don't stay up too late, and especially don't stay up all night."

"We won't," I tell her. "Goodnight."

They go up to their bedroom and shut the door and Denise and I are all alone in the living room. The room is dark except for the light shining from the lamp on the end table. We sit up and start talking. "Do you wanna play truth or dare?" I ask.

"Sure. Truth or dare?" She asks.

"Usually I pick dare but this time I'll pick truth."

"Ok." Denise thinks for a while. "I know. If you had to pick one boy from our class to go out with, who would you pick?"

"That's easy! None of them! They're all a bunch of babies. I can beat every single one of them up!"

"No, you have to pick one."

"Ok, but I wouldn't pick any of the boys from our class. I would pick John from Ms. Monroe's class."

"He's a fifth grader!"

"I know."

"He _is_ cute though," she says.

"I guess. I like him because he likes to play sports and he's gonna be a professional rodeo star when he grows up. Just like me. He's nice too. When we compete at rodeos he always says hi and talks to me even though I'm a little younger than him. The other guys ignore the younger kids."

"How long have you liked him for?"

"What?! I don't 'like' him!"

"Yes you do," she says smiling at me. "You didn't have to think for very long when I asked who you'd go out with."

"Ok, who would you go out with from our class?"

"Jeremy."

"What?! Why?!"

"Because he's cute."

"I guess. But why else. You can't just like him 'cause he's cute."

"Why not?"

"Don't you want to be friends with the person you go out with? You know, play together?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well, if I went out with John we could ride horses together, or go fishing, or climb a tree. What would you and Jeremy do if you went out?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about that before."

"Well, I have seven brothers and when they go out with a girl, they say they like girls who like to do fun stuff with them. Like Daniel likes girls who understand music. He likes a girl that can play the piano or likes to sing. I think Ford likes Cleo because she's sweet like he is. They both like taking care of the sick baby animals we have on the farm."

"Oh. I guess you're right. It would be fun to go out with someone who liked to play soccer with me or ride bikes."

"Or play softball," I tell her. "You're a really good pitcher."

"I always thought you just liked someone because they're cute."

"My brothers say you have to be attracted to them. They go out with pretty girls. Right now that's all Brian likes to do. He goes out with all these girls and has sex with them. I guess that's what he likes to do so he finds girls that like to do that too. There's a lot of girls that like to do that, because he's always with someone new almost every night!"

"Wow!"

"Yeah, he goes out with girls from all over the place. Sonora, Angeles Camp, Twaine Harte, Jamestown, and a whole bunch of other places."

"And all he does is have sex with them?"

"Yep. He likes to do that. I think he's good at it too because he says he has to fight the girls off of him. I don't really know what that means."

"Heidi, have you ever kissed a boy?"

"Yeah, in kindergarten this kid named Scott kissed me right on the lips. It was gross so I punched him in the mouth."

Denise laughs and says, "I could see you doing that."

"Let's get back to our game. Your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

I smile. I've got lots of good dares inside my head. "Ok, you have to go outside and stand by the big oak tree in the front yard for a whole minute! In the dark! When the minute is up you have to yell cock-a-doodle-doo."

"No! I don't want to do that! It's scary out there!"

I smile and nod my head. "That's why it's a dare."

"Ok." She says and we get up and walk to the door. I open it quietly and she slowly walks out onto the porch. "How will I know it's been a minute?"

"Count to sixty."

"I'm scared Heidi."

"It's just for a minute."

"Ok." She slowly walks to the porch steps and walks down them. At the bottom she turns around and looks at me and I nod to her.

"You can do it," I whisper loudly.

She slowly walks to the old oak tree in front of the house and when she gets there I close the front door. I count to sixty in my head and when I hear her crow like a rooster I open up the door. Denise is running and when she gets to the steps I yell, "sh! Be quiet!" I don't think she heard me because she comes running up them loudly and once she's inside I close the door and we run back to our sleeping bags. We lay down just as Hannah opens her bedroom door and says, "everything ok down there?"

We giggle and say yes.

"Just making sure," she says and then she closes her door.

We laugh and Denise says, "I was so scared out there! Your ranch is huge and scary looking in the dark!"

"I know!"

"Your turn now. Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" I say immediately.

Denise thinks for a while and I say, "it can't be the same dare I just gave you."

"I know," she says. Then she smiles. "I dare you to go into Guthrie's room and tickle him on his foot!"

"What?! Ok!" We get up fast and tiptoe up the stairs. At the top I look at Denise and whisper, "sh," as we tiptoe past Adam and Hannah's door and make our way down the hallway to the boys' room. Once we're there I carefully open the door making sure it doesn't squeak and we tiptoe inside. It's hard for us to keep from giggling. It's also dark in the room so I have to let my eyes adjust to the darkness so I can figure out which bunk Guthrie's on. I know it's a top bunk and when I see him, I stand on the bottom bunk and hold onto the top railing and lean out. I put my hand under the covers where his feet are and feel around. When I feel his foot I tickle it and his foot jerks away and Guthrie sits up. We giggle and he says, "hey! What are you doing?"

We laugh quietly as we leave the room and sneak back down the hallway. Hannah opens her door again and says, "what are you two doing?"

"Denise had to go to the bathroom so I came up here with her." I say that just as Guthrie slams his door shut.

Hannah looks at us like she doesn't believe us and says, "hurry up. It's almost eleven now and I want you two to stay in bed and be quiet."

We both say ok and go downstairs.

"I thought Denise had to go to the bathroom," Hannah says. I think she's glaring at us, but her voice sounds like she's smiling.

"She doesn't have to go anymore," I tell her and we run down the stairs giggling.

"Goodnight!" Hannah says and she shuts her door.

We sit on our sleeping bags and I say, "your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to kiss Guthrie on the lips!"

"No!"

"You have to! You said dare!"

"I don't want to do that, Heidi!" She's smiling a little bit when she says that.

"Yes you do! You're smiling! Come on, you have to do it!"

"Ok."

We get up again and quietly go into Guthrie's room.

"What do you want?" Guthrie asks. He sounds annoyed.

"Nothing," I tell him as I push Denise closer to his bed.

"No!" She whispers. We're both giggling.

Guthrie sits up and says, "what are you doing in here?!"

Denise steps up on the edge of the bottom bunk quickly and kisses Guthrie's hand that's resting on the top railing.

"Ew! What'd you do that for?!"

We laugh. "Sh! Denise, you were supposed to kiss him on the lips!"

"I can't! He's sitting up!" We can't stop giggling until the light turns on in the bedroom. Hannah's standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?"

"They're trying to kiss me!" Guthrie yells.

"Out!" Hannah says in a loud voice. We walk to the door and when we're in the hall she puts a hand on each of our shoulders and follows us to the stairs. When we get to them she says, "stay in bed now. Don't come upstairs again and stay out of Guthrie's room."

"Ok." We go downstairs and Hannah watches us until we get in our sleeping bags and lay down. "Goodnight," she says again and she goes in her room and shuts the door.

"Spending the night at your house is fun," Denise says.

"I guess so. I like spending the night at your house too." We're quiet for a while until I say, "are you tired?"

"No."

"What should we do?" I ask.

"I don't know."

While we're trying to think of something to do we lay in our sleeping bags and talk. We talk about where Denise lived before she moved here a few months ago. The friends she used to have and what her old school was like. Then we talk about our school and some of the girls in our class we don't really like, and then we talk about the ones we do like. We talk more about boys and we try to think of someone else for Denise to like besides Jeremy. I told her Jeremy's kind of mean sometimes to girls. I told her how he liked this girl in our class named Amy, and she didn't like him back so he started making fun of her and he made her cry. Denise decides she doesn't like Jeremy anymore. We talk about our families next and she tells me where her family is going on vacation next summer. That's interesting to me because we never go on vacation. Denise says maybe I can go with her. We talk and talk until we're quiet because we've talked about everything and there's nothing more to talk about.

"Now what should we do?" Denise asks.

"I'm kind of hungry."

"Me too," Denise says. "You know what sounds good?" Ice cream!"

I sit up. "We have some!"

We look upstairs and quietly get up and go into the kitchen. "It's too dark in here. Let me get a flashlight." I go back into the living room because that's where Guthrie keeps his flashlight. It's by the bed he usually sleeps in with Brian. Once I find it we go back in and get the ice cream out.

"Let's make sundaes!" I say quietly. I get chocolate syrup out and whipped cream. Denise holds the flashlight while I get bowls and spoons out. It's hard to dish the ice cream out. I usually have one of my brothers do that for me so it takes me a long time just to fill one bowl. By the time I fill the second bowl my hand hurts. But once we have the chocolate syrup and whipped cream on it and I take a bite, I don't feel any pain in my hand.

We sit at the table sort of in the dark. I put the flashlight on the kitchen table so it's standing up and pointing at the ceiling. That way it lights up the whole room a little bit.

"This is fun," Denise says.

"I know. What do you want to do after this? I'm not tired at all!"

"Me either. We could play a board game again."

"Maybe. Lets think of something funner."

I hear the front door open and Denise and I look at each other. My brothers must be home from town. I quickly grab the flashlight and turn it off. They're trying to be quiet but they're not doing a very good job at it. Please don't come in the kitchen. Darn! They're coming in the kitchen. At least one of them is. The light turns on and we stare at Brian and Crane.

"What are you two doing up?" Crane asks. Brian comes in and gets a glass down from the cupboard. "Does Hannah know you're in here eating ice cream?"

I don't say anything. Both of us just stare with our bowls of ice cream sitting on the table in front of us.

Crane smiles a little. "She doesn't, does she?"

I shake my head no. Brian fills his glass with water. "What time is it?" I ask.

"One-thirty."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Upstairs."

Brian and Crane sit down at the table with us. "Go ahead and finish your ice cream," Brian says.

We start eating again. "Did you meet any girls," I ask.

They look at each other and laugh a little. "You could say we met a few," Brian says.

"Anybody special?" I ask. I hope Brian says yes, and Crane says no. They both say no. "Well, you can try again tomorrow night."

They laugh and Crane whacks me on the top of my head with his knuckles.

"Hey!" I say while laughing and trying to do the same back to him. I have to get up and jump around a lot and we're all laughing until we hear a loud, "AHEM!"

I stop jumping and laughing and stare at Adam and Hannah as they stand at the other end of the table. They look mad and tired

"What's going on in here?" Adam asks.

I just stare at them saying nothing. Crane and Brian keep laughing and Brian says, "just getting a drink of water."

"What are you two doing?" Adam says looking at me and Denise.

"Eating ice cream." I say quietly.

"Are you supposed to be eating ice cream?"

I shrug my shoulders.

Crane and Brian get up and put their glasses in the sink. "Goodnight!" They say on their way out of the kitchen.

"Put your dishes in the sink and get back to bed," Adam says.

We quickly get up and put our dishes in the sink.

"Hey Adam," Crane calls out from the living room. He's holding the telephone message "Who's Isabella and why does she want me to call her?"

Adam glares at me then and we all walk out into the living room. "That's the secretary from Heidi's school," he says.

"Why is she calling _me_?" He's cheeks are turning pink and he's smiling.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm going back to bed."

Denise and I get in our sleeping bags and Adam says, "don't get up again."

"What if we have to go to the bathroom?" I ask and I hear Denise giggle.

Adam sighs and says, "you can go to the bathroom."

"What if we get scared?"

Adam looks tired and rubs his forehead with his hand. Hannah puts her arm around him and says quietly, "let's go to bed."

"What if we get thirsty?" I call out. We both giggle now.

Adam turns around and says, "if you ever want Denise to spend the night again, be quiet, stay in bed and go to sleep."

That's enough to make us settle down. They go upstairs and close their door and Denise and I say goodnight to each other and go to sleep.

* * *

I groan and stretch in my sleeping bag. All I hear is talking! I wish it would stop! I haven't opened my eyes yet and I don't want to. I'm tired. I scrunch down in my bag so my head is all covered up. "Be quiet!" I yell. Why won't they stop talking?

"Heidi are you awake?"

That's Denise's voice. I stretch and poke my head out and look at her. She's sitting up in her sleeping bag looking at me. She looks tired too. "Yeah. But I'm still tired. I want to go back to sleep BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE PEOPLE IN THE KITCHEN WON'T STOP TALKING!"

"I know. I'm still tired too."

"What are you yelling about in here?" Evan says coming in from the kitchen.

"You guys are too noisy! We're trying to sleep!" I yell.

Evan laughs and says, "it's eight-thirty in the morning. Get up and come have breakfast."

"No!"

When he walks back into the kitchen I hear him say, "watch out! Someone's grumpy!"

There's groans coming from the kitchen and I hear Hannah come in and say, "are you hungry for some breakfast?"

I groan and scrunch down in my sleeping bag.

"Denise, are you hungry?"

"No."

"Whenever you two are ready to get up, breakfast is waiting in the kitchen."

I sit up and look at Denise. Neither one of us talks. When Guthrie comes in he laughs at us and sits on the floor in front of our sleeping bags. "What are you guys gonna do today?" I just stare at him. Actually it's more of a glare.

"What we're you doing in my room last night?"

Denise says, "playing truth or dare."

"And you had to kiss my hand?!"

"She was supposed to kiss you on the lips."

"Yuck! I'm glad you just kissed me on the hand! What time did you go to sleep?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Late."

"How late?"

"Leave us alone."

"Come on, get up! Denise, do you want to go fishing?"

"I don't know how to fish."

"We can teach you."

"Go away Guthrie. We don't want to get up yet."

"We could go horseback riding," Guthrie suggests.

"Hannah! Guthrie's bugging us!"

"Ok, I'll go. But hurry up and get up so we can do something."

Guthrie gets up and goes back into the kitchen. I look at Denise and we both yawn. "Do you want to get up now?" I ask her.

"I guess so."

We both stand up slowly and walk into the kitchen. Evan, Ford, Crane and Guthrie are sitting at the table and Hannah's washing dishes.

"Good morning sleepyheads," Crane says as we walk in. I walk over to my chair and when I pass by him he grabs me and pulls me to him and gives me a bear hug.

"Stop it!" I yell, but when he stops I lean against him and he puts his arm around me.

"Are you tired?" He asks.

I nod my head. Denise is sitting in a chair across from us and she looks really tired too. She's just staring into space. Evan and Ford laugh at us.

"You guys look like zombies!" Ford says. I glare at him and Evan says, "watch out! She can kill you with that glare!" Guthrie laughs now too.

"Leave me alone!"

Hannah walks over and says, "that's enough boys. Don't you have some chores to do?"

They groan and get up and put their dishes in the sink. "Heidi, come find me when you guys are ready to do something ok?"

I nod my head and watch him follow Evan and Ford out the back door.

"What do you girls want to eat?" Hannah asks. We both shrug our shoulders and Hannah says, "help yourselves to what's on the table. Everyone else has already eaten. Crane if you're going into town today I could use a lift to the market."

"I'm going in about a half hour," he tells her. He takes a sip of his coffee and gives me a little squeeze. "Sit down and eat," he says. "Hey Hannah, I forgot to ask Adam about this phone call I'm supposed to return from someone named Isabella. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

Denise and I look at each other and I move away from Crane and sit down in my chair next to him.

"I know a little bit about it, but I think Heidi might know a little bit more than I do."

Crane looks at me and I look back at him and shrug my shoulders.

"Heidi?" Hannah says. "Do you have something you want to tell Crane?"

"Nope."

Crane smiles at me and says, "what's this phone call about? Who's Isabella?"

Denise says, "she's the secretary at our school."

Crane smiles for a little bit and then he looks puzzled and says, "why is she calling me?"

"Beats me," I say as I pick up a piece of bacon.

"Heidi," Hannah says quietly.

I'm still quiet and Crane says, "what's the secret, Heidi?"

"There's no secret. Guthrie and I invited her to come over for dinner tomorrow night and Hannah said she could come."

"Why is she calling _me_ then?"

"Yeah," Hannah asks. "Why _is_ she calling Crane?"

Uh-oh. Denise and I look at each other again and I don't know what to say. Crane and Hannah are both looking down at me so I finally say, "maybe she wants to ask you out." I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know what she wants. Maybe she just wants to say hi."

"How'd she get our phone number?"

"Duh, the phone book." Denise laughs a little when I say that.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?" Crane asks.

"I don't know, maybe you're just paranoid."

"Hmm. I don't think so," he says as he stands up. "I guess I'll call her and find out."

"Wait! You're gonna call her now?!"

Both Hannah and Crane look at me and they look surprised. Crane says, "what's wrong with calling her now?"

"Isn't it too early to call someone? I mean, don't some people like to sleep in on Saturday morning?"

"It's after nine o'clock now. That's an ok time to call someone."

I watch him walk over to the phone in the living room. It's on the big desk in there and I can see it from where I'm sitting. He picks up the note with her phone number on it and then picks up the phone and dials. My stomach starts to hurt and I wish I could run outside right now, but I'm still in my pajamas. He's waiting for someone to answer and he waits a while before hanging up.

When he walks back in here he says, "I guess no one's home. I'll try again later." I take a deep breath and let the air out slowly. That was close! "Hannah, I'll meet you outside in a little bit," he says and he takes a piece of bacon and walks out the back door. Hannah looks at me kind of funny.

"What's going on Heidi? Why don't you want Crane to call Isabella?"

"I don't know. No reason I guess." I take a bite of my toast and pretend nothing's wrong.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're up to something. If I were you, I'd say what it is now instead of waiting for Crane to find out. Especially if you know it's something he's not going to like."

"I'm not up to anything," I tell her.

"Ok. If you say so." She puts her dish towel on the counter and takes her apron off. "Will you girls clean up the rest of the dishes? I've already done most of them. I'm going to go into town with Crane so..,". I interrupt her.

"So who's in charge of us while you're gone?"

"Everyone is. They're all outside working. You know what you can and can't do so find something fun to do and I'll be back around lunchtime. Just make sure you tell one of your brothers if you go somewhere like the river."

"Ok."

She kisses the top of my head and says goodbye to us. We finish eating and do the dishes. Then we put away our sleeping bags and go upstairs to get dressed.

* * *

"Maybe she won't be mad," I say out loud. "But then again, maybe she will be."

"Heidi, just call her. You'll feel better if you do," Denise says.

We're sitting on the floor of the boys' room with the telephone and Isabella's number. I can't decide if I should call her and tell her Guthrie and I pretended to be Crane.

"Do you want me to call her?" Denise asks.

"No. I should be the one to do it." I pick up the phone and dial. The phone rings four times and then someone says hello. "Isabella?" I ask.

"Yes?"

I hang up the phone.

"Why'd you do that?" Denise asks.

"I don't know. I got scared."

"Give me the phone and let me do it."

"No, I'll do it." I dial again but this time when she answers I speak in a low voice.

"Isabella?"

"What are you doing?" Denise whispers.

I shrug my shoulders. I have no clue what I'm doing.

"Yes this is Isabella. Who is this?"

I clear my throat. "This is Crane McFadden. I'm calling because I got your message from last night and I'm wondering what you want."

"This is Crane?" She asks. I don't think she believes me.

"Yes." I try to make my voice sound deeper. "Why did you call?" I ask.

"Well, I called," she pauses for a little while and then says, "I called because I wanted to make sure your call from last night wasn't a crank call."

"It wasn't. I really am Crane."

"And you're sure you want me to come to dinner tomorrow night? Won't your whole family be there?"

I didn't think about that. She might not want to come if we're all here.

"Um, well, I guess that would be a little scary for you."

I hear her sigh and she says, "yes, to tell you the truth, I didn't want to say no, but now I feel like I should cancel."

"No!" I yell in my regular voice and Denise gasps. "I mean, no," I say in a deep voice.

"Excuse me?" She says.

"I mean, how would you like to go on a date with me instead?"

"What are you doing?!" Denise whispers loudly. She tries to grab the phone out of my hand but I fight her off.

"Crane?" Isabella says.

"Yes?"

"Oh, I thought you hung up."

"Isabella, will you go out on a date with me this Sunday night?"

"Sure."

"Let's meet at Marie's at six o'clock."

"Ok."

"Good," I say.

"Yes, good," she says and then we're both quiet.

"Say goodbye," Denise whispers.

"Oh right!" I say. "Goodbye Ms. Trent."

Denise jabs me in my side.

"What?!" I whisper.

"You called her Ms. Trent!"

"I mean Isabella," I say into the phone. "Goodby Isabella."

"Goodbye Crane."

"Goodbye Isabella," I say again, only this time I laugh when I say it. "Goodbye Ms. Isabella Trent."

Denise yanks the phone out of my hand and yells, "what the heck did you do that for?"

I stare at her because she sounds kind of mad. "What? I was just having fun with her name."

"Not that! The part about asking her on a date! Are you crazy?! I thought you made this phone call to get 'out' of trouble! Not back in it!"

I smile. "It's ok Denise. Don't worry. I've got it all planned out." I look at her and say carefully, "I'll tell Crane to go to Marie's tomorrow night and meet Isabella there."

She looks at me like I'm crazy. Actually, she looks like Guthrie does after I come up with a plan. "And just how are you going to explain 'why' he needs to meet Ms. Trent there?"

"Easy. I'm gonna pretend she called here and left a message for him to meet her there. I'll write it down on a piece of paper and leave it next to the phone."

"But why would he want to meet her there?!"

Denise sounds frustrated. Now she sounds like Adam.

"I'm going to tell him she had something very important she wanted to talk to him about."

"But he's going to call her later today. How are you going to keep him from finding out what you did when he talks to her?"

"I told you. I'm going to leave a note. Then I'll throw this note that Adam wrote, away. Crane will meet her at Marie's and they'll fall in love. Then they'll get married and she'll move into our house like Hannah did."

Denise stares at me. She stares for a long time.

"Denise?"

She still doesn't say anything.

"Denise? How come you're not talking?"

"I don't know what to say."

I smile at her. "It's a good plan, isn't it?"

She nods her head but doesn't smile when she says, "it's either a really good plan, or it's the dumbest plan ever."

"Well you didn't have to say my plan is dumb."

"It is!"

"Why? What could go wrong?! Crane has a date. All I need to do is make sure he gets the note." I get up and pick up the phone and put it back on the small table in the hallway. "Come on. We've got a note to write!" Denise follows me downstairs so I can write a fake phone message to Crane from Isabella. Crane is going to be so happy! This plan is way better than the first one!


	6. Chapter 6

"There! How does that look?" I hold up the message I wrote for Crane from Ms. Trent, and show it to Denise. She reads it out loud.

"Crane, Isabella called and wants to meet you at Marie's on Sunday night. Six o'clock."

"Shouldn't you leave a phone number?"

"Why would I want to do that? Then he'll call her to say he's coming and he'll be mad when he finds out I pretended to be him."

"But usually people leave a number just in case."

"Ok." I take the note and write a phone number down.

"That's not her phone number," Denise says.

"I know."

"Heidi, are you sure you want to do this? Isn't Crane going to find out you pretended to be him when he meets Ms. Trent at Marie's?"

"It won't matter then. He'll be happy I did it."

Denise sighs and says, "ok, but I don't think we should plan any sleepovers for the next couple of weeks."

"Why not?"

"Because I think you're going to be grounded."

"We'll see!" I smile at her and then say, "come on, let's go see what Guthrie's doing."

I put the note by the phone and crumple up the other note Adam took yesterday. That way Crane won't have the real phone number. I throw it in the trash and we go outside.

* * *

It's a nice day outside. It's not too hot or too cold, it's just right. Guthrie comes running up to us from the barn and says, "it's about time you guys came outside! What have you been doing?"

I smile at him and say, "nothing."

"What do you guys want to do? Ride horses? Look for buried treasure? Go on an adventure? Go to the river?"

We laugh at him. I ask Denise what she feels like doing and she says she wants to go to the river. "We have to tell someone we're going there first."

"I'll go tell Brian," Guthrie says. "He's in the barn."

We wait for Guthrie and when he's back we walk to the river. It's kind of far but it doesn't seem like it takes us that long to get there because we're talking the whole way there and picking up rocks and throwing them along the way.

"We should've brought our fishing poles," Guthrie says once we get there.

"This river is yours?" Denise asks.

"The part that goes on our property is. It's a long river and it goes pretty far. It's smaller here. If you go out past the pasture it's a lot wider. Heidi and I went gold panning there once."

"You did?! Did you find any gold?"

"Yep! Lots," I tell her.

"Is there any gold here?"

"No. If there was my brothers would've found it a long time ago," Guthrie tells her. He sits down on a rock and starts taking his shoes and socks off. I do the same.

"Why are you guys taking your shoes off?"

"So we don't get them wet. You should take yours off too."

Denise sits down and takes hers off and Guthrie and I walk into the river. When Denise steps in the water she yells.

"Oh my gosh! This water is freezing!"

"You'll get used to it after a while," Guthrie says.

"Yeah, pretty soon you won't feel it anymore 'cause your feet will be numb."

Denise walks carefully in the water. There are some slippery rocks in some areas so we have to be careful.

"Why are we _in_ the river?" Denise asks.

"To find stuff," I tell her.

"What stuff?"

"Snakes, fr..,"

"SNAKES?!" Denise screams. "There are snakes here?!" She starts to get out of the water.

"There's other things too," I tell her. "There's frogs and turtles and...where are you going Denise?"

She's over by our shoes now. "I'm not getting in that river if there's snakes in it!"

"Denise, the snakes aren't just in the water, they're all over the place. They like to hide near rocks or under bushes...,"

"You mean they're EVERYWHERE?!"

Guthrie and I look at each other. I didn't think Denise would be scared of snakes. I walk over to her and say, "it's ok Denise. We hardly ever see all the snakes. They're afraid of us. Usually we only see one or two."

Guthrie yells over, "they're usually just little ones."

"I don't care! I'm afraid of snakes."

"Look I found one!" Guthrie yells. "It's a baby!"

Denise starts screaming and I don't know what to do. I watch Guthrie catch the snake and he starts walking towards us.

"Keep it away from me!"

"It's a baby," Guthrie says.

As Guthrie gets closer to us, Denise starts moving backwards. She can't go very fast because she doesn't have shoes on. Guthrie shows me the snake.

"Aw, it's so cute! Denise look! It's a baby snake!" Guthrie lets it slide into my hand. It's about six inches long and it slithers all around my wrists and hands as I hold it.

"Is it a rattlesnake?" Denise asks.

"No, it's a garter snake. You can't pick up a rattlesnake. It'll bite you and they're poisonous," I tell her.

"Is that snake poisonous?" She asks.

We laugh. "If it was, I wouldn't be holding it."

Denise seems to have calmed down a little. I hold the snake up for her to see. "See how tiny it is? Look at it's tiny, little eyes and it's tiny little tongue!"

She's looking at it, but she's not coming closer. "How do you know it's a baby?"

"Because it's so small. Garter snakes get to be about this long." Guthrie holds his arms apart.

"What! That's huge!"

"Do you want to pet it?" I ask her.

"No!"

"Do you want to hold it?"

"No! Heidi, can you just let it go? Put it far away from us!"

"Ok." I give it back to Guthrie and he walks up the river to find a far enough place to let it go.

"Denise, do you want to look for frogs? Are you afraid of frogs?"

"Heidi, I've never touched a frog. Or a snake, or anything slimy like that!"

"It's a good thing we didn't go fishing then. We put worms or other crawly things on the hooks and I don't think you would've liked that."

"No."

"You probably wouldn't like to see the fish gasping for air when it comes out of the water either." I sigh. "Do you want to stay here and play, or should we go do something else?"

"I guess we could stay here. What do you usually do when you come here?"

"We walk around looking for stuff. You never know what you'll find. We just go exploring."

"I guess we could do that."

Denise walks back into the river and slowly walks around.

"Come on. Just walk around and see what you can find. Once I found a pretty purple rock. There's other things to look for here that aren't animals. Sometimes we find good skipping rocks too. Have you ever skipped rocks before?"

"Once or twice with my dad, but that was a long time ago."

"Hey Guthrie! Let's teach Denise how to skip rocks!"

"Ok!"

We play at the river until we're hungry and we think it's lunchtime. We taught Denise how to skip rocks and catch frogs. She even held a frog in her hand! But when it peed on her she screamed and flung it off so it flew in the air. On the way back to the house she said she had fun and maybe next time she'd touch a snake. When we see the house the three of us have a race to it. Guthrie wins. He always beats me, but I beat Denise. Hannah and Crane are home from town and they're getting lunch on the table.

"Can Denise stay for dinner?" I ask Hannah as I grab a chip from the bowl near her.

She slaps my hand gently and she smiles and says, "don't eat yet, and no she can't stay for dinner. Denise, I just got off the phone with your mom and we're going to be taking you home in a few hours."

"Ok."

"Darn! I wish you could stay longer."

"Hey, maybe you can come to my house and spend the night!"

We smile at each other and I ask Hannah, "can I?"

"No, I don't..," she starts to say, but I interrupt her.

"Why not? Pleeeeeeease?" I look up at her and smile my biggest smile.

"Well, number one, Denise's mom hasn't invited you, and number two, you're grounded."

My smile disappears and I glare at Hannah. I forgot about being grounded. As soon as Denise goes home I'm grounded!

"Don't frown at me," Hannah says. She's still smiling and says, "you still have a few more hours of freedom."

I shrug my shoulders and put the bowl of chips on the table. Crane is packing up lunches for some of my brothers that are working way out on the ranch. He's gonna drive it out to them in the jeep. There were a few strays that got out from a hole in the fence yesterday. It seems like there's always a hole in our fence somewhere. They need to make stronger fences.

"Hey, Heidi, did you take the phone message from Isabella?" Crane asks.

Guthrie and Denise look at me. I look up at Crane. "Um...yes."

"Did she say why she wanted to meet at Marie's?"

Hannah looks at me now as I shake my head no. "Um...Hannah? Ms. Trent isn't coming to dinner tomorrow night."

"Why not?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. She just said she couldn't come. But she said she wanted to meet Crane at Marie's. I wrote it down."

"It just seems weird to me," Crane says. "I guess I'll call her later tonight."

"No you can't!" I blurt out.

Now everyone's staring at me. "Why not?" Hannah asks.

"She said she was gonna be out today," I tell them. "And tonight!" I quickly add.

Crane looks at me funny and shakes his head. "Seems strange to me." He picks up the box of lunches he's taking out to my brothers and leaves. Hannah looks down at me and she doesn't look very happy.

"Do you know something you're not telling us?" She asks.

"Like what?"

"Oh I don't know, like what's going on?"

"I don't know anything."

Guthrie laughs at that and says, "you got that right!"

"Hey!"

Evan and Ford come in for lunch which means everyone else is looking for strays. We all sit down to eat.

"Evan, can you help Denise ride Lucy?"

"Sure. Do you still want to?" He asks Denise.

"I think so."

"I'll help you guys after lunch."

"Hannah, we need some more chicken feed," Ford says.

I look at him and smile. His girlfriend Cleo works at the feed store. "Are you going to see Cleo?" I tease.

"No! We really need some chicken feed."

Everyone laughs because Ford's cheeks are red. "That's what Ms. Trent's cheeks look like when she looks at Crane!" I laugh.

"Ok, settle down everyone. Ford, you can go with me when I take Denise home."

"I'll go too. Maybe Becky's in town," Evan says.

"Ooooh, is that your girlfriend?" I tease him.

"Noooo!" He says as he throws a chip at me and we laugh. I throw one back and Hannah says, "I'm not cleaning up a food fight. Whoever throws the next chip is doing all the lunch dishes _by themselves_."

Nobody touches the chips after that. We all finish our lunch and help clean up. Then Guthrie, Denise, Evan, Ford, and I go out to ride horses. "We're leaving for town at two-thirty!" Hannah calls out to us as we leave, and we all say ok.

* * *

Evan helps Denise ride Lucy by letting her ride while he walks Lucy around. Then she rode by herself for a little bit. She said it was fun so maybe when she comes over again she'll get to ride longer. When Evan and Ford go inside to get cleaned up we tease them. _They_ say they're getting cleaned up because they're dirty, but _we_ know they're getting cleaned up because they're meeting girls. Guthrie, Denise and I climb the old oak tree in the front yard while we wait for everyone to come outside.

When they come out of the house we climb down and Hannah lets us ride in the back of the truck. Denise has never ridden in the back of a truck before so she thinks it's a lot of fun. We wave to everybody that drives by us. When you live in a small town like Murphys, everyone knows everyone.

When we get to Denise's house Denise and I jump out of the back and Guthrie hands Denise her bag. Hannah walks up to the door with us to say hi to her mom. Denise and I say goodbye and she thanks us for letting her spend the night and her mom thanks us too. Denise lives in town so after we drop her off it's a short drive to Main Street.

Hannah drives to Marie's and parks in front of it. "Why are we stopping here?!" I yell from the back of the truck. Hannah gets out and I stand up.

"I'm helping Marie out. She had two people call in sick for the dinner shift."

"But you never work at night," I tell her. "What's Adam gonna do?"

She laughs. "I'm sure he'll think of something."

I put my hands on my hips. "Does he even know you're working? I don't think he's gonna be happy about this!"

"What are we gonna have for dinner?" Guthrie asks.

"Don't worry guys. Your brothers will figure something out."

"When are you coming home?" I ask. "How are you gonna _get_ home?"

She smiles. "I'll be home later tonight when the dinner rush is over."

"I don't like this!" I tell her.

"You'll be fine."

I glare at her while she hands Evan the keys to the truck. "Hey! You're gonna let _them_ watch us while we're in town?!" I point to Evan and Ford in the front seat.

"Yes. And you're going to be very good for them. Aren't you?"

Guthrie says yes but I'm not so sure. I fold my arms across my chest.

"Heidi?" Hannah says in her serious voice. "You're going to be good for them."

"Okaaaay. But they're not nice to us when they're supposed to watch us."

"I'm sure they'll be good too." She smiles and says, "goodbye. I'll see you later tonight." She gives us a little wave and walks into Marie's.

Evan drives the truck a few blocks down to the feed store. He parks on a side street and I jump out of the back of the truck.

"You two aren't supposed to wonder off," Evan says. "We're going to the feed store first and then across the street to the General Store."

"Why? What do we need to get from the store? Hannah already went shopping today."

"Becky works there," Ford says.

Guthrie and I smile and Evan says, "you're not gonna bug us either. Hannah gave me a dollar for you to buy some candy." We get excited until Evan says, "but you only get it if you're good."

We follow them into the feed store. It's kind of busy inside. Cleo's working at the cash register and someone else is working with her behind the counter.

"Hi Cleo," I say as I run up to the counter.

She smiles at me and says, "hi Heidi." When she sees Ford her cheeks turn pink. Both of them have pink cheeks now. I wonder why.

"Hi Cleo. I need to get chicken feed and it looks like you're almost out," Ford tells her.

"I can go in the back and get more," she says as she comes out from behind the counter.

"I'll help you."

I follow them to the back but Evan stops me and says, "give them some privacy." I look up at him and smile and he smiles back.

Guthrie runs up and says, "can we go wait for you across the street. I promise we'll sit on the bench in front of the store."

"Ok. Wait for us there. We should only be here for about fifteen minutes."

"Yes!" We run out of the store and cross the street. There's an old wooden bench with a high back that sits in front of the General Store. We run to it and sit down. We say hi to people as they walk by and I start getting bored and a little tired so I lean over on my side and rest. I hear some men talking over by Guthrie but I'm not listening to them until Guthrie nudges me and whispers, "did you hear that?"

I sit up. "What?"

"Sh. Listen."

"Jake said it was huge! Probably seven or eight feet tall!"

"I don't know, do you really think he saw it?"

"What are they talking about Guthrie?" I whisper.

"Sh!"

"Yeah, he said he was at Johnson's lake."

I look over at the men and see it's Mr. Miller and Mr. Ward.

"I'm telling you Ken, he said he saw it."

"How could he see something that big in the dark? There wasn't even a full moon."

"He had a campfire going."

"Ok, I'm not saying I believe it but, what was it doing out there?"

"He said he only saw it for a minute and then it just took off. You know there's been sightings by Big Bear."

"I don't know, I gotta see proof."

"Well,...here comes the misses. I'll see ya. Are you and Lil going to Whiskerino next Saturday?"

"Yeah, we'll be there. See ya!"

"Guthrie, what were they talking about?" I ask when they're gone.

"Bigfoot! Over at Johnson's lake!"

"But that's by our ranch!"

"I know! That's so cool! That means he could be on our property!"

"We should look for him! We haven't looked for him in a long time!"

"I know! And now he's so close!"

Evan and Ford walk up to us and we tell them all about the Bigfoot sighting. They listen and think it's pretty cool too. Some of my brothers believe in Bigfoot and some don't. I wonder if Hannah does.

"Hey, we should go searching for him tonight," Guthrie says. "We could all go together!"

"Nope, not tonight. I'm seeing Cleo."

"And I'm going to see if Becky wants to do something," Evan says.

I glare at them and put my hands on my hips. "You guys are no fun anymore now that you like girls!"

They laugh and Evan says, "are you guys coming in, or are you staying out here?"

"We'll be in the candy isle," Guthrie says and we go inside the store.

"Don't touch anything Heidi," Evan yells after us.

* * *

Guthrie and I immediately go to where the gum is in the candy isle. "I hope Evan doesn't take too long," Guthrie says. "I'm gonna go see if Becky's here. If she's not, then maybe we can go home. Do you think Daniel or Brian will take us hunting for Bigfoot?"

"Maybe. Go see if he's talking to Becky. The sooner he's done, the sooner we can go home and I'm bored."

Guthrie walks towards the back of the store and I continue walking down the candy isle.

"Hello McFadden."

I don't even have to look up to know who said that. It's that mean bully Gary! I look up at him and glare.

"Leave me alone!" I yell at him.

He laughs and says, "we're not at school right now, I can bug you all I want to!"

He's right. At school he's not allowed to talk to me or be around me. He bugged me so much Adam made Mr. Brick do something about him or Adam said I wasn't going back to school. I hate him and so do my brothers because he picks on girls _and_ he's a sixth grader picking on a fourth grader. I'm not scared of him though. I'm scared of his brother.

"I'm not scared of you," I tell him and I go back to looking at the candy, but I say, "if you touch me, you're dead."

"I'm not scared of you."

"You should be. I've only beat you up like a thousand times."

We're talking quietly and pretending we're looking at the candy so we don't get kicked out. Last time Gary and his brother pushed me into one of the shelves here in the candy isle and made a big mess. I look around for his older brother Rick. He's really mean and I 'am' scared of him.

"Rick's here if that's who you're looking for." Gary's smiling and he says, "he's in the back of the store. In fact, I think I see him coming now."

I look up and sure enough here comes Rick walking towards us from the back of the store. Maybe my brothers saw him. I hope they did. Rick is smiling his creepy smile at me. Gary leans over and says, "are you scared now?"

I am, but I'm not telling him that. When Rick gets here I start backing up. He says, "what's the matter McFadden? Are you scared? You don't have any of your brothers around to help you. I saw them at the back of the store. They didn't see me though."

I'm scared. His smile is so creepy. I don't know what to do. If I can only get past him and run back to my brothers.

"Don't think about getting your brothers. They can't help you now."

"Why? What are you gonna do? Beat me up right here in the candy isle?!"

"I just might!" He starts to lunge towards me and I try to run by him, but I can't. He grabs my arm and I struggle to break free. I can hear them laughing but all I can see is his hand on my arm and I finally break my arm free. I run. Fast. Out of the store and down the street. I'm not stopping until I get to Marie's.

* * *

"What happened?" Marie asks as I run into her restaurant.

I'm out of breath from running and crying and I don't see Hannah so I run to Marie and while she hugs me I try to catch my breath.

"Heidi? What happened?" Marie asks. "Why is your shirt ripped?"

"Heidi, what are you doing here? What happened?" That's Hannah's voice so I look for her and run to her. "Where are your brothers?"

I look up at her and say, "at the store."

"Do they know you're here?"

"No. I had to run away. Hannah, those mean bullies were there and Rick grabbed my arm."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Heidi." Hannah kisses the top of my head and then kneels down in front of me. "Did he hurt you?" She looks at the rip on my sleeve.

"My arm hurts a little," I tell her. She looks at me and wipes the tears off my cheeks.

Marie says, "Hannah I'll call Pete down at the General and let him know Heidi's here so he can tell the boys."

"Thanks Marie."

"I'm sorry I left the store Hannah, but I'm scared of Rick."

"I know you are sweetie. I'm glad you came here. Your brothers will be here soon enough."

I hug her. "Hannah, do you have to work? Can't you just come home with us? There's nobody here in the restaurant." I look around and then hug her again. "Well, almost nobody."

"I'm sorry, but I really need to help Marie. It's not busy now, but it will be soon."

"Then can I stay here with you? I could help you."

"No, you need to go home. I don't know how late I'm going to be here."

"How are you going to get home?"

"It's a Saturday night. I know of at least three of your brothers that are going to be in town tonight. I'll get a ride home with them."

"But they don't get home until really late. What are you gonna do while you're waiting?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe I'll listen to Daniel's band play at the Hall."

"Without Adam?"

"Yes."

"Are you guys fighting?"

"What? No! Why do you think we're fighting?"

"Are you going to get a divorce?"

"No! Why are you asking that?"

"Because you always do stuff together and now you're not."

"It's just for tonight. Married people don't have to do stuff together every night."

"That's what Susie said happened when her mom and dad got a divorce. They stopped doing stuff together. Maybe you and Adam need to go out on a date."

Hannah smiles at me and says, "Heidi, Adam and I are not getting a divorce and I think you need to stop trying to get people to go out on dates." She stands up and leads me over to the counter. "Sit up here on this stool and I'll get you some water."

"Can I have a soda instead?"

"No, but I might be able to find one of Marie's famous chocolate chip cookies."

I sit up on the stool at the counter and smile. Evan, Ford and Guthrie come in and rush over to me.

"Are you ok?" Evan asks.

I nod my head and Guthrie says, "we chased Gary and Rick down the street."

"They wouldn't let me go to the back of the store to find you so I had to run outside."

Ford says, "next time scream. Scream as loud as you can."

"I didn't even think about doing that," I tell them. Hannah brings me my water and she asks Ford and Evan if they have dates tonight.

"I do," Ford says.

"Me too," Evan says. "A bunch of us are going to the Hall. Daniel's band is playing."

"Can I go?" Guthrie asks.

"No. It's not for little kids," Evan says.

"I'm not little!"

Everyone laughs when he says that and Evan says, "let's go home."

We say goodbye to Hannah and Marie and walk outside. I look around and don't see Gary or Rick anywhere.

"Don't worry Heidi, we'll protect you," Ford says and he takes my hand. We have to walk a few blocks to the truck and we're all quiet at first.

Then Guthrie says, "hey, let's race! On your mark, get set, go!"

All four of us run down the street to the truck. I know I'm gonna come in last place but I'm still gonna run as fast as I can. The four of us stay together until we get close to the truck and then Guthrie and I break ahead. Guthrie comes in first but I'm second!

"I beat you guys!" I yell at Evan and Ford. We're all laughing and at the same time trying to catch our breath which is hard to do. "I beat you!" I yell again.

"You're getting faster," Ford says. Evan and Ford are looking at each other like they know a secret. I don't know what it is and I don't care. I'm getting faster. Guthrie and I climb in the back of the truck and Evan drives us home.

* * *

By the time we get home it's after five. No one's back from searching for the strays yet, so we all sit on the couches and relax. I'm feeling pretty tired, probably because I went to bed late, so I lay down and close my eyes.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to go hunt for Bigfoot?" Guthrie asks.

"I know I don't want to," Ford says.

"Even though they saw him at Johnson's lake? That's real close to here."

"That is close," Ford says, "but I'd rather see Cleo."

Guthrie laughs, "why, so you can spend all night kissing her?"

They all laugh while Guthrie makes kissing noises and I laugh a little too.

The front door opens and I look up and see Brian walking in. That means Crane, Daniel and Adam aren't far behind.

"How come I don't smell dinner cooking?" Brian asks as he walks towards the kitchen.

"Hannah had to work at Marie's," Guthrie tells her.

"So you guys are just sitting around doing nothing?"

We're all quiet and then Ford says, "sorry, I guess we weren't thinking."

Guthrie says, "I don't know what to cook for dinner."

"_You_ might not know, but these guys do. How hard is it to boil a pot of water for spaghetti or open up a few cans of beef stew? Or get started on whatever Hannah had planned for dinner. I'm sure she had something planned."

Evan and Ford get up and follow Brian into the kitchen. "You two can help too," Brian calls out to me and Guthrie.

"Tell him I'm too tired." Guthrie gets up and I close my eyes again and listen to the talking in the kitchen.

When Guthrie tells Brian I'm too tired, Evan says, "let her sleep. She'll just be grumpy in here."

He's right. I probably would be. Guthrie tells Brian all about Bigfoot and how close he is to the ranch. Brian, Evan and Ford talk about Bigfoot too. I'm not sure which of my brothers really do believe in Bigfoot, or if they're just saying they do because they know Guthrie and I believe. Guthrie tries to convince them to stay home tonight and go hunting for Bigfoot. I drift off to sleep dreaming about catching Bigfoot.

* * *

When I wake up I'm hungry. My stomach is growling. I'm still on the couch so I sit up and look around. It's quiet. Too quiet. I get up and walk into the kitchen. Adam is in here wiping the counters.

"Where is everybody?"

"You're awake. Are you hungry? We saved you some spaghetti."

I nod my head and sit down at the table while Adam warms up the pot on the stove.

"Where is everyone?"

"Daniel, Evan, and Ford are in town, and Crane and Brian went hunting for Bigfoot with Guthrie."

"They did?! How come they didn't wake me up?!" I get up and Adam says, "sit down. You're not going anywhere."

"Why not?"

"Because you're grounded."

Oh. That's right. I sit back down and start to cry a little bit. I really wanted to go with them. "Brian and Crane took Guthrie? They didn't want to go into town?"

"Nope."

"But they never stay home and do stuff with us!"

"Yes they do. You're just upset right now. Here, eat this."

"So just me and you are here?"

"Yep."

"What are _we_ gonna do?" I look at him and glare as he sits down across from at the table.

Adam smiles at me. That makes me glare more. "Well, since you're grounded I thought we could work on those flashcards, then...,"

"Nooooo! I don't want to do that!"

"Too bad."

"Fine! _Then_ what are we gonna do?!"

"That depends on you."

"What does that mean?!"

"It means, I'll decide what we do next based on how cooperative you're being when we work on your flashcards."

"What does that mean?!"

He's not smiling anymore. "If you're not good you're going to bed."

I glare at him. "I already slept! I'm not gonna be tired!"

"By the way you're acting right now, I'd say you didn't sleep enough. Eat your dinner and come out to the living room when you're done." He gets up and walks into the living room.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" He doesn't answer so I yell, "Adam! Why aren't you talking to me?!" Still no answer. "Why are you ignoring me?! Adam!" When he doesn't answer again I say, "fine! I'm not eating! I'm just gonna sit here!"

I glare towards the living room and fold my arms across my chest. Then I look at my plate. I'm really hungry. I guess I could just eat a little bit. I start to eat and before I know it, I've eaten all my spaghetti, carrots and French bread. I just have to finish my milk.

When I'm done I carry my glass and dish over to the sink and rinse them off. Then I walk to the big area where the kitchen and living room meet. I look for Adam. He's sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"I'm finished," I say quietly.

He lowers the newspaper and says, "good. Get your flashcards."

"I don't know where they are."

"They're over there on the desk. Hannah found them under the big comfy chair over there, so she put them on the desk. I think the desk is a great place to keep them from now on. That way they won't get lost."

I walk over to the desk and grumble, "why was she looking under the chair?"

"She said something about seeing a little girl putting them under there."

"Oh." I get my flashcards and bring them over to Adam. "I'm not little."

"Right." He takes the cards from me and looks through them and takes out five. "Let's start with these."

As I sit down on the couch I give a big sigh and lean back against the couch as hard as I can. When he holds up the first card I don't know what it is so I guess, "five."

"No. Try again."

"Three."

"You're not even trying."

"That's because I don't know the answer."

"Here practice these for a little bit and then I'll test you on them."

I groan and take the five flashcards from him. "Seven times two is..." I turn the card over..."fourteen." I sigh and do the next two. When I get to the fourth card I'm tired of doing this. "Three times four is...this is boring, this is dumb..,"

"Knock it off. The sooner you learn these, the sooner you'll be done."

"And then what? I'm grounded."

"Just do them."

I work on those five and when Adam tests me I get them all right. I feel happy and I jump up off the couch. "Now what do you want to do?"

"Now you get to practice these five." He hands me the other flashcards.

"Why?!" I fall back onto the couch and start to cry.

"It's five flashcards!" He yells. "Learn these and we'll put them with the other five and test you on all ten."

"Why are you mad at me?!"

"Because you're making this a lot harder than it has to be! Learn the cards and we'll be done!"

"I hate math!"

Adam gets up and starts walking to the kitchen. "Where are you going?!"

He stops and turns around. "I'm going into the kitchen to get some ice cream."

"What about me?" I ask.

"When you're done with the flashcards you can have some." He walks into the kitchen.

"Then I'm never gonna have any! These are too hard! Adam?! Are you listening to me?!" I yell. When he doesn't answer I yell, "I hate math!" I throw my flashcards up in the air and they land all around me on the couch and the floor and the coffee table. Then I fold my arms across my chest and cry. I wish I was with Guthrie hunting for Bigfoot. This isn't fair!

When Adam comes back in with his ice cream he sits in the big comfy chair and looks at me. I stop crying and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. Then I get up and pick up all my flashcards. I sit down on the couch and look at them. They're not really 'that' hard. I work on them for a while and then tell Adam I'm ready. He just sits in the chair eating his ice cream and staring at me.

"Did you hear me? I said I'm ready," I tell him again.

He just keeps on staring at me.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I won't cry anymore and I learned them all." He's still staring at me. "For real. I learned them. Ok?" I ask. "Can I show you now?"

"Yes."

I walk over to him and hand them to him after he puts his bowl on the end table. I stand in front of him and he tests me on them and I get them all right. Then he looks at me. "You know you could've been done with this a while ago if you didn't pull that tantrum."

I don't have anything to say to that except, "sorry."

"Put these on the desk and we'll work on them tomorrow."

I do that and then I come back and say very quietly, "can I have some ice cream now?" I already know the answer though and my eyes start to water.

"No. I told you earlier Heidi, what we do tonight depends on how you act."

"Do I have to go to bed now?"

"Not yet, but if you have another tantrum you will. If you yell at me you will and if you complain about something you will. Understand?"

I nod my head yes. "Can I sit on your lap?"

"Yes."

I get on his lap and he hugs me. "Do you miss Hannah?" I ask.

"Of course."

"Why does she have to work at night? I don't like it."

"Sometimes you do things you don't normally do to help people."

"But she's not supposed to be gone when it's dark outside. She's supposed to be here with us." We're quiet for a little bit and then I ask Adam, "are you and Hannah going to the Whiskerino Dinner Dance next Saturday?"

"I don't know."

"You should!" I sit up a little and turn a little so I can see his face. "Now that you have Hannah you can go! She loves to dance! You might even win the contest!"

Adam laughs and says, "we're judged as a couple while we dance. Hannah is a much better dancer than I am. If they were just judging individually, she'd win for sure. I think Crane has a good chance of winning. It just depends on who he takes."

"I wonder if Ms. Trent knows how to dance! Crane should take _her_!"

"Don't get any ideas," Adam says.

"I'm not. He can ask her tomorrow night!"

"Speaking of tomorrow night, what do you know about Crane meeting this lady at Marie's?"

"Nothing."

"Heidi?" He lifts my chin up and says, "I get the feeling you know something you're not telling me."

"Well I don't. I don't know anything," I say as I smile up at him.

"I hope you're telling the truth," he says as I lean back on his chest. "What happened to your shirt?" He asks as he puts his hand on my sleeve. "How come it's ripped?"

I tell him all about Gary and Rick and running to Marie's. Adam tells me he's gonna talk to their dad again. "I don't know why they think it's ok to pick on girls. It's bad enough they're bullies, but picking on a ten year old girl? I don't get that."

We talk some more about them and then we talk about Bigfoot and then I ask Adam if we can watch TV and he says yes. As soon as we get the TV out and ready to watch Guthrie comes running through the front door.

"We saw Bigfoot! We saw Bigfoot!" He shouts.

Brian and Crane follow him in laughing and Crane says, "no we didn't!"

"Well, it _sounded_ like it could've been Bigfoot!" Guthrie says.

Guthrie sits next to me on the couch and tells me all about their hunt. I wish I could've gone, it sounds like they had a lot of fun.

"Let's have ice cream now," Guthrie says and I follow them into the kitchen.

Guthrie gets the ice cream out, Brian gets the bowls down and Crane gets a beer for him and one for Brian. "You want one Adam?"

"No thanks."

"When's Hannah coming home?" Guthrie asks.

"Whenever the boys come home."

"That's going to be a while," Crane says.

"I know."

"Why don't you just go get her?" I ask. "Brian and Crane are here now so you don't have to watch us. You should go to the Hall and dance with Hannah. It could be like a date!"

"I think I just might do that." Adam looks happy now. Not that he was sad or anything before, but he looks happy thinking about getting Hannah. "I _will_ do that!"

He kisses me on the top of my head as he walks by. "Goodnight little matchmaker."

I smile and tell him goodnight.

"Don't wait up!" He yells as he walks out the front door.

"Do you guys want to watch TV?" I ask.

"Yeah!" Guthrie says.

They all bring their ice cream with them into the living room and I turn the lights off. Brian finds something to watch and we all sit on the couch together. I'm sitting next to Crane and I look up at him and watch him laughing at the show and I think about how much fun he's going to have on his date tomorrow night.

* * *

I only get to watch one TV show before I have to go to bed since I'm grounded. Crane tucks me in and I ask him if he's looking forward to seeing Isabella tomorrow.

He sits down on my bed. "I don't know Heidi. I don't understand _why_ she wants to meet me."

"She probably likes you."

"But usually people don't call and say, 'meet me at Marie's."

"Maybe that's how she asks men out on a date."

"No."

"Why not? Why can't she just call up and ask that?"

"Well, usually the two people that want to go out _talk_ to each other. They don't leave messages for each other on the phone."

"Maybe that's how she does."

"I don't know, but what I _do_ know is, it's time for you to go to sleep." He tickles my side a little bit and I laugh.

"I'm not tired. I took a long nap today."

"But you were up really late last night. So, story or song?" He asks.

"Both!"

"Both?! Ok. What story do you want me to read?"

"Tell me a story about Bigfoot!"

"Bigfoot? I don't want to give you nightmares."

"I like Bigfoot! I don't get nightmares from Bigfoot!"

"Ok."

Crane tells me a funny story about Bigfoot and then he sings me a song. He kisses my forehead when he says goodnight and I laugh because his beard tickles me. When he leaves I turn onto my side and fall asleep.

* * *

It's still nighttime when I wake up. I always sleep with my little pink lamp on that sits on top of my dresser, but it's dark in the hallway. I look at my clock. 4:00. I'm not tired at all. I sit up in bed and wonder if I should get up. I'm kind of hungry so I guess I could go get something to eat. I get up and get my flashlight out from under my bed.

I shine my flashlight out in the hallway and step out of my room. I can hear Brian snoring from downstairs. I don't know how Guthrie can sleep through all that noise. I walk quietly down the hallway and I start to get scared. It's so dark in the house. But I'm hungry so I keep walking to the stairs until I hear a noise down there, then I stop to listen. I don't hear anything now, but I wonder what made the noise. I bet it was Bigfoot!

I am _not_ going downstairs! Instead I go to Adam's room and open the door. I shine my flashlight on Adam and walk over to him.

"Adam," I whisper. "Adam." I shine my flashlight on his face. He's not waking up so I say his name a little louder and put my hand on his arm and shake it a little bit. "Adam, wake up."

"Huh, what?" He opens his eyes and sits up really fast. "What?! What's going on?!" I think I scared him. "Is that you Heidi? Quit shining that in my eyes."

I move my flashlight so it's not shining in his eyes and tell him I'm scared. He groans.

"What are you scared of?"

"I heard a noise downstairs. I think it's Bigfoot."

"No," he says while he groans. "Bigfoot is not in our house."

"What?! I didn't think he was in our house, but now I do!"

Adam turns on his lamp and Hannah sits up. "What's wrong?"

"Bigfoot," Adam tells her.

"Heidi, there's no such thing as Bigfoot," she says.

"Yes there is! He's on our property and now he's in the house!"

"No he's not!" Adam says loudly. "It's four in the morning. Go back to bed!"

"By myself?! Are you crazy?!"

Adam groans really loudly and sits all the way up now and puts his feet on the floor. "Let's go." He stands up and walks out into the hall with me. I shine my flashlight downstairs from the railing.

"I'm hungry."

"It's bedtime."

"It's the morning and I'm hungry."

"Then go downstairs and get something to eat. I'm going back to bed."

I shine my flashlight at his face and he covers his eyes with his hand. "Quit shining that in my eyes! Now go get back in bed."

"Ok." We walk to my room and I get on top of my bed.

"Get under the covers."

I sigh but do it. "I'm really, really hungry," I tell him.

"Then get up in an hour and have breakfast."

I lay down and say, "that's a long way away."

"It's an hour. Close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"I'm not tired."

"Well I am, so close them."

I close them for a few seconds and open them back up.

"_Close_ them."

"Adam, I'm not tired. Besides, when I close my eyes I see Bigfoot."

He sits down on my bed.

"Did you do something fun with Hannah?" I ask him. I smile really big.

"Yes. We went out dancing for a little bit and then I took her out for dessert after."

"Did you have fun?"

He smiles and says, "yes. Now go to sleep."

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"Only if you close your eyes and stop talking."

"Ok." I turn on my side and close my eyes and he rubs my back until I fall asleep.

* * *

"I wish I could go," I say sadly.

"I wish you could too," Guthrie says.

Guthrie talked Ford into going adventuring with him. They're going to look for Bigfoot footprints. I can't go since I'm grounded. I already spent the whole morning working with Crane around the house and in the barn. Then we had to make lunch for everybody. Hannah had to help Marie out again because some of her waitresses were still sick, but at least she doesn't have to do the dinner shift. Only the breakfast and lunch shifts.

Now I have to help my brothers. I'd rather go with Guthrie and Ford, but since I can't I have to help them out now and that's ok. I like it when I get to help out with things other than the barn and I get to help Adam or Brian. They usually don't let me help them because they say I goof off or wander off.

Today they have to fix a big section of barbed wire on the north pasture fence. It's where the cows got out the other night. They found the last stray this morning and had patched up the fence the other day, but now they have to fix it for real.

My brothers put the supplies and tools they need in the back of the truck and when it's all loaded up some of us get in the jeep and the others get in the truck. I get in the jeep and we drive off to where the fence needs fixing.

* * *

I got to help a little bit so far. There really isn't much I can do though except hold the hammer for them. I am so bored! Now they're arguing. I listen a little and it sounds like they need more barbed wire than they thought. I look around for something to do while I wait for them to get back to work. Maybe I can find a lizard or a snake or something.

I start looking around for something and I can't find anything. There's a stupid bee that keeps flying around me though and if it's not careful I'm gonna kill it! I hate bees. It keeps trying to land on me so I start running around. It's kind of fun 'cause it keeps following me. Now there's a second one so I have to run around from both of them. That makes the game even funner. I start backing up to get away and run into something and I stumble backwards and fall down.

"Ow!" I walked right back into the coil of barbed wire laying on the ground and that's what made me fall backwards.

"Are you ok?!" My brothers rush over to me as I stand up. I cry. I didn't get hurt that badly because I didn't land directly on the coil. "Let me see," Adam says. "Did you get poked anywhere?"

I hold up my pointer finger. It's bleeding a lot and it hurts. "Adam it hurts!" I cry.

Daniel rushes over with one of my brothers shirts and holds it on my finger. It's either Brian's shirt or Evan's because they're the only two who took them off when they got too hot. Adam helps me stand up and he looks me over.

"Your jeans have a few rips in them and I see some scratches, but nothing that broke the skin," he says.

"It's a good thing that was the new barbed wire and not the old stuff," Brian says.

"We'll have Hannah take a look at it later."

"No! She'll put the stinging stuff on it!"

"You need the stinging stuff on it or it's going to get infected. We'll have to see if we need to take you to the doctor to get a tetanus shot."

"A shot!" I cry harder.

"Yes. What were you doing when you fell?"

"There was a bee chasing me."

"Oh." Adam leads me over to a place to sit by the fence. It's in the shade of trees from the other side of the fence. If you walk on the other side of our pasture there's trees all over. One or two oaks mixed in with a lot of pine trees. There's also a river down there, but you have to walk down to get to it. "Sit here and hold that shirt on your finger. I'll come back and check on it in a minute."

I sit down and press the shirt on my finger. It hurts a lot but I'm done crying. I take the shirt off to see if it's still bleeding and it is. Not as much as before, just a little bit so I put it back. I watch my brothers. They're still arguing about something. I listen for a while but get bored. I can hear the river. It sure would be nice to go play down there, but I don't think my brothers would like that. But the longer I sit here, the border I get.

I stand up. Maybe I can see the river from up here somewhere. I walk around a little and go downhill just a little bit so I'm where the trees are. I look around for a good digging stick. I can take it back to where I was sitting and dig a hole with it. I walk farther and I can see the river now. I walk downhill a little ways and see the perfect stick lying on the ground. I pick it up and something falls off of it. I reach down and get it. It's hair! I bet it's Bigfoot's hair! He probably brushed up against this stick when it was still on a tree and broke it off. He left some of his hair behind! I can't wait to show Guthrie! I wonder if I can find more hair, or even better, a footprint! I start walking down to the river looking for signs of Bigfoot.

I don't know how long I've been gone for but I hear someone calling my name. Uh-oh. I'd better go back. But wait 'till I show them what I found!

"Heidi!"

"I'm coming!" I yell.

"What are you doing down here! I told you not to wander off!" Adam yells at me when I come into his view.

"I didn't. I went to get a stick." I hold it up for him to see.

"Going to get a stick is wandering off!"

"Oh. Sorry. But look what I found! It's Bigfoot hair!" I run up to him and hold it out for him to see.

"That's from a cow," Adam says.

"It's the same color as Bigfoot."

"It's also the same color as our cows. It's probably from one of the strays."

"I don't think so. I bet it's from Bigfoot."

"Get over here and stay," he says while leading me back to where I was sitting before, but then he changes his mind and leads me over to the jeep. "Let me look at your finger. Where's the shirt?"

I must of set it down when I picked up the stick. I shrug my shoulders and say, "down there somewhere. I'll go get it."

"Sit down! You're going to stay right here. I'll get it." He walks off and comes back a short while later with the shirt. He drops it down by me. "If your finger starts bleeding again hold the shirt on it."

"Ok."

"I'm going back to work and every time I look over here I want to see you sitting right here."

Hmm. That sounds like a game. I smile up at him. "Ok."

He looks down at me and glares. "What? What are you thinking?"

"Nothing. Just listening to you."

After he leaves I dig in the ground with my stick. I'm glad I didn't poke the finger on my right hand because I'm right handed. I dig for a while and then I get bored so I look over at my brothers. Adam looks at me and I smile and wave. He doesn't smile or wave back he just gets back to work. I go back to digging.

After a while Daniel and Crane walk over to the truck. I stand up and ask where they're going.

"To town. We're picking up Hannah and then going to Frank's place to see if he has anymore barbed wire."

"Can I go?"

"Not enough room."

"Yes there is. I can sit in the back of the truck."

"Not on the way back. You're not sitting back there with the barbed wire."

"But I'm soooo bored!"

"Then don't get grounded," Crane says as he walks by and gets in the truck.

"Hey!" I put my hands on my hips. "That wasn't very nice!" I yell at the truck as they drive off. I guess it's true though. I could be hunting for Bigfoot right now instead of being stuck out here digging a stupid hole in the ground with a stupid stick! I sit back down and dig, but that doesn't last long.

I get up and walk over to my brothers. "What time is it?" They're stretching the barbed wire out and they have to do it carefully. I walk over to one of the new t-bars they put in the ground. I look for the old one and find it. It's all bent. I wonder what did that. I look at it and think Bigfoot!

"Do you think Bigfoot broke the fence?!"

They groan and Brian says, "no."

"Then what did?"

"I don't know. Probably a cow."

I think about that but that doesn't make sense to me. "Then why are you putting up a new fence? If the cow broke the other one, won't it break this one too? In fact, wouldn't they break all the fences?"

"Heidi, go back to the jeep. We're trying to concentrate on this right now and you're bugging us," Adam says.

"What time is it?" I ask again.

"Three."

"That's it! I thought it was at least five o'clock by now! How long is this gonna take?"

"Go!" Adam, Brian and Evan all say at the same time.

"Jeez! Fine I'm going!" They didn't say where I had to go.

"Get back to the jeep!" Adam yells.

I walk back to the jeep and sit down and pick up my stick again. This is so boring! I dig harder and then my stick breaks. Darn! Now what am I gonna do? I get back up and walk over to my brothers.

"My stick broke." I hold it up for them to see. "Can I get a new one?"

"No! Get back over there!" Adam yells.

I slowly walk back to the jeep kicking at the ground as I go along.

"Why'd she have to come?" I hear Brian ask.

"You know why Brian!"

"She's making this a whole lot harder!"

"I can hear you!" I yell over to them.

"Good!" Brian yells. "Stop bugging us!"

"Why can't I help?!"

"You're too little!"

"No I'm not!"

All of a sudden the barbed wire pulls out of Evan's hands and coils back towards Brian. Luckily he got out of the way fast enough. I hear him swear and so does Evan and Adam. They're mad at the fence.

"Are you ok?" I yell over.

Brian looks at me and he looks really mad. He starts to walk over to me and I get scared.

"Brian!" Adam yells after him. Adam runs up and grabs his arm. "That wasn't her fault! Let's get back to work so we can finish this dang fence!"

Brian glares at me and then turns around and walks back to help.

I decide to sit in the jeep. The top is off so Adam can see me if he turns around. I climb over to the back seat and stand up and look out at our pasture. The cows are pretty far away from us. I jump out of the jeep and walk back over to my brothers. They're looking at the fence and it's not fixed yet.

"I'm bored," I tell them when I get there.

"Evan, take her down to the river for a while. Brian and I are gonna have to figure out how to make this work," Adam says.

"Yes!" I say.

"Just for a little while!" Adam reminds me.

Evan walks over to me and says, "come on squirt."

We walk down to the river and start exploring. I love doing this with my brothers. We play around for a while and Evan even catches a turtle! It's really small, but still, it's a turtle. Guthrie and I haven't been able to catch one. We look for more turtles and frogs and snakes. We're both having a lot of fun. We've got our shoes and socks off as walk around in the water. This is the same river that goes through our property, only it's a lot wider here. We play around a little while longer and Evan says we should get back. "I think we've been down here for over an hour."

When we get back my brothers fix the fence while I watch. I don't bug them at all. I have a new stick so I start digging a new hole. The only question I ask is, "what time is it and how long are we staying?"

"It's after five and we're staying until it's fixed. We're almost done."

"Good!" I go back to digging and before I know it, it's time to go. "Finally!"

My brothers aren't in a good mood. I think they're still mad at the fence so I don't talk at all the whole way back to the house.

* * *

"Let's get Hannah so she can look at your finger." That's the first thing Adam says when we walk inside.

"Noooo! She'll put the stinging stuff on!"

Hannah is walking down the stairs and she says, "put the stinging stuff on what?"

"Nothing!"

Adam takes my hand and shows her my finger. "It's from the barbed wire."

"We've got to get that cleaned right away."

"Noooo!"

Adam picks me up and we follow Hannah upstairs to where her first-aid kit is. She gets it out of her bedroom and meets us in the bathroom. Adam puts me down and holds me still and then holds my arm still. I can still move my hand and fingers around so Hannah keeps them still while she looks at my finger.

"Hold still. I'm just looking at it." When she's done looking she gets the stinging stuff out and puts some on some white cloth from her kit. I try pulling my hand away but I can't. As soon as she touches my cut I yell.

"Don't take the scab off! That hurts!"

"I have to clean it." She puts a bandaid on and says, "I want to look at this later tonight."

They let me go and I escape from the bathroom. I run downstairs to the kitchen. Everyone's in here helping put dinner on the table. I stop in the entrance of the kitchen and stare at Crane.

"What time is it?!" I yell.

"Ten after six," someone says.

"What are you doing Crane?! You're not supposed to be here! You're supposed to be at Marie's meeting Isabella!"

Hannah and Adam come up behind me and Hannah asks, "what's wrong?"

"It's Crane!" I yell. "He's supposed to be with Isabella right now!"

Crane says, "relax Heidi. I never got a hold of her. I tired calling a few times but no one answered. She wouldn't go to Marie's unless we talked first. I never got a chance to tell her I'd meet her there."

I stare at him and start crying. Everyone's looking at me. How could this go so wrong! Why'd I write a fake phone number down? But then I think of the worst thing. Isabella is waiting at Marie's right now. She's waiting for Crane and he's never gonna come! I feel so bad. She's probably sad.

"What's wrong Heidi?" Hannah asks.

Hannah and Adam turn me around and I look up at them and say, "I did something I shouldn't have."


	7. Chapter 7

I can't stop crying. Adam and Hannah kneel in front of me and Hannah hugs me.

"What's wrong? What did you do?"

I don't know how to tell them.

"Heidi," Adam says, "what did you do?"

I shake my head back and forth. "I don't know how to say it!"

"Stop," Hannah says quietly. "Just calm down. You don't have to say right now. Just calm down."

"No! I have to say it right now!"

"Sh." Hannah rubs my back trying to calm me down but all I can think about is poor Ms. Trent. She's sitting all alone and she must be so sad. I hope she's not crying. I wish I never did this. I hear Adam call Guthrie over.

"Guthrie, do you know what happened?"

"No."

"Guthrie?"

"No. Honest, I don't. If I did know I would tell you. I don't know why she's acting like this."

Adam takes me from Hannah and stands me in front of him and puts his hands on the sides of my arms. When I look in his eyes I start crying hard again because he's gonna be so disappointed!

"Heidi, when you said you did something you shouldn't have, what did you mean by that?" He doesn't look mad. He looks sad. When I get hurt and he wants to know what happened this is what his face looks like. I shake my head at him because I still don't know how to say what I did. He says quietly, "you can tell me."

I look at him through my tears and say quietly, "I pretended to be Crane."

"What?" Adam asks. "I couldn't hear you." Now he takes his hands off my arms and puts them on my face and wipes my tears away with his thumbs. "Tell me again."

"I pretended to be Crane." I cry and he pulls me to him and hugs me and I cry on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Everybody was quiet in the kitchen, but now I hear them talking quietly. Someone says, "what did she say?" Someone else says, "I think she said she pretended to be Crane." Then I hear Guthrie.

"Adam, on Friday, Heidi and I called Ms. Trent and invited her over for dinner."

Hannah says, "yes, we know that. But yesterday Heidi said Ms. Trent wasn't able to come."

"I don't know about that part, but what we didn't tell you was that when we called her on Friday, I pretended I was Crane. Ms. Trent thought she was talking to Crane and she thought 'he' was inviting her over."

Adam keeps hugging me and rubbing my back while I cry.

Guthrie says, "we lied when we told you 'we' invited her over. Well, we _did_ invite her, she just didn't know it was _us_."

"I see," Hannah says.

Adam talks quietly to me. "Heidi, how did you know Ms. Trent couldn't come to dinner? Did you call her and pretend you were Crane. Is that what you're saying?"

I nod my head and start crying hard again, but I manage to say through my crying, "she's...waiting...for...him!"

"Oh no," Hannah says quietly. "Heidi, does Ms. Trent think Crane is coming to Marie's?" I nod my head. "Heidi, did you pretend to be Crane and ask her out?" I nod my head again and then I hear her get up and say, "I'll call Marie."

"What's going on?" One of my brothers asks from the kitchen.

"Go ahead and eat you guys," Hannah tells them and I hear her pick up the phone and dial.

"I'm sorry Adam," Guthrie says.

Adam keeps hugging me while I cry and he tells Guthrie to go eat. Then Hannah tells Adam, "well, Marie told me Ms. Trent was there. She stayed for about a half hour and left a little while ago. Marie said she seemed upset."

I lift my head up and ask, "was she mad?"

"No honey. Marie said she was sad."

I lay my head back on Adam's shoulder and cry. "I feel so bad. I'm sorry I made her sad. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Sh," Adam says quietly. "We know."

Hannah calls Crane out to the living room and I hear him walk in. Hannah explains what happened and Crane says, "I'll call her." He picks up the phone and dials. I listen for him to start talking, but he never does. Then I hear him hang up the phone and say, "no one is answering. I've called a few times today and got no answer."

"It's the wrong phone number," I say quietly.

Adam tells Crane, "Heidi said it's the wrong number." Then Adam says quietly, "what do you mean by that?"

"I changed the last four numbers around. I didn't want Crane to call her and cancel the date."

Guthrie says, "I know her number! It's in the phone book!" I hear him get the phone book out and tell Crane it's the third Wyatt number. Then I hear Crane dial. It seems like it takes forever for someone to answer the phone, but someone finally does and I hear Crane say hello.

"This is Crane McFadden. May I talk to Isabella please?" Crane is quiet and then he says, "yes, I know. If I could just talk to her for a minute I...," he's quiet again. Then I hear him say, "yes, I understand. If you could just tell her I'm sorry and explain that..., ok. Goodby." He sounds sad and hangs up the phone. "She doesn't want to talk to me. Whoever answered the phone wouldn't let me explain either."

I start crying hard again and say, "I'm...sorry...Crane."

The house sounds so quiet. Even my brothers in the kitchen aren't making any noise except for the sounds of silverware on plates. I think the only sound is my crying.

"Adam, go eat," Hannah says. "Let me take her."

Adam lets go and stands up. Hannah leads me to the couch and when she sits down on the couch she pulls me onto her lap. I lean against her and cry quietly. I can hear my brothers talking quietly in the kitchen. They want to know what happened so Crane and Adam tell them.

"How did Heidi get Isabella to think she was Crane? I would think she would know the voice didn't sound like an adult." Daniel asks.

"We practiced," Guthrie says. "A lot."

"I don't like that you did that," Crane tells him.

"Sorry."

Then Adam says, "one of the reasons I don't like you guys calling and pretending to be me is because you're setting a bad example for Guthrie and Heidi." I'm sure he's talking to Evan, Ford and Daniel.

"We didn't make them do that," Daniel says.

"I know you didn't. That's not what I'm saying. Just know that you have two little kids watching you and looking up to you and copying you."

"We're not little," Guthrie says.

"They knew what they were doing was wrong," Evan says.

"I know. I'm not blaming you for this. I just want you to think about what kind of example 'you' want to set for these kids."

"Sorry," Daniel says.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Ford and Evan say.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about the situation now," Adam says.

The kitchen is quiet for a while until Adam says, "Crane, did Frank have the barbed wire we needed?"

I don't listen to the answer. I feel so bad. "Hannah, I don't feel good."

"Are you not feeling well?"

"No, it's not a sick feeling. It's a sad feeling. It feels bad."

"That's because you hurt someone. You hurt two someone's."

"Two?"

"Yes. Isabella 'and' Crane."

"I wish I didn't do this."

Hannah just hugs me. She doesn't say anything else and neither do I. But after a while she asks me if I'm hungry.

"No. I don't want to go in the kitchen right now either."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pretty sure Crane hates me and everybody else probably does too."

"They don't hate you. You know your brothers could never 'hate' you. I'm sure Crane is just very disappointed in you."

"I don't like that word. How long do you think he'll feel that way?"

"I don't know. That's hard to say."

"Are you disappointed in me?"

"Yes. I don't like what you did. Ms. Trent is a very nice person and you hurt her. Right now she thinks Crane hurt her."

"I'm going to have to tell her what I did, aren't I? I mean, I want to. I'm going to tell her I'm sorry."

"That's good. I'm sure she'll appreciate that."

"Why won't she talk to Crane?"

"Because she thinks he hurt her."

"But she won't even talk to him?"

"No, I guess not. Some people take longer to forgive and she's not even ready to listen yet. I'm sure she'll talk to him once she finds out what happened, but I don't know that."

"I hope she doesn't stay mad at him, because this is all my fault."

"You're right, it is. I wish you would've listened to me when I told you to leave them alone."

"I know, mind my own business. I'm sorry Hannah. I never thought this would happen. I was just so excited for them to go out."

We sit quietly for another minute and then I tell her she can go eat dinner.

"No, I'll wait. Maybe you'll feel like eating in a little bit."

The kitchen sounds normal again with lots of talking going on and pretty soon my brothers start coming out because they're finished eating. Daniel comes out first and he gets his guitar and sits on the couch across from me and Hannah. He starts fooling around with a song he's been working on. When Crane comes out he gets his guitar and they both go outside to practice on the porch.

When Guthrie comes out he asks me if I'm ok and I nod my head. I don't feel like talking. Not even to Guthrie. When Evan and Ford come out they ask Guthrie if he wants to play a game, and when he says yes, they let him pick one out.

"Do you want to play?" Ford asks me.

"No thank you."

Hannah gives me a little squeeze and says, "let's go eat."

I get off her lap and we walk into the kitchen together. Hannah dishes out some stew for us and I put a biscuit on my plate and start buttering it. Brian and Adam are doing the dishes quietly.

"Thank you," I tell Hannah when she sets a bowl in front of me. I look at the stew. I'm not hungry so I don't eat anything at first until Hannah tells me to take a bite.

After the first bite I tell her, "I'm not hungry. My stomach doesn't feel good." I feel so bad that all I can do is look at my dinner while tears fall down my cheeks.

Adam comes and sits with us. He sits across from me where Guthrie usually sits and I stare down at my bowl.

"I'm disappointed," is all he says.

I wipe my eyes and my cheeks and nod my head while I keep staring down at my bowl.

"I think you know you hurt someone."

I nod my head and say, "I know. I hurt Crane and Ms. Trent."

"You also lied to us. You lied to me, Hannah and Crane." I look up at him and he continues. "I'm pretty sure all three of us asked you about the phone call. I know I did."

"I did too," Hannah says.

"We asked you if you knew something about the phone call and you said no. We told you we thought you were hiding something and not telling us the whole story, and you said you weren't."

Now my tears start falling again. "I'm sorry," I whisper as I wipe my eyes. "I feel really bad. This didn't turn out like I thought it would."

"Remember how I always tell you to think before you do something? To ask yourself if what you are about to do is wrong or it could hurt someone? I don't think you did that."

"I did think. I thought about how happy they would be once they went out on a date. I thought they'd like each other."

"But you didn't think about the part where someone might get their feelings hurt."

I shake my head no. "I'm sorry I hurt Crane's and Isabella's feelings."

"I can see you are. You've got some apologizing to do."

"I know."

"Heidi, I don't want you to use the phone unless you ask first."

"Ok," I say quietly. Now he's gonna ground me. I know I deserve it, but I don't care about that right now. All I care about is Crane and Ms. Trent.

He's quiet. I look at him waiting for him to say something, but when he doesn't I ask, "aren't you going to ground me?"

He stares at me for a while and says, "no."

"Why not?"

"I think you feel bad about what you did and I don't see how grounding you is going to help. You're going to be spending a lot of time thinking about what you did and how you're going to fix this mess. This isn't something you can just fix by saying you're sorry."

"It's not?"

"No. That's a good start, but I bet it's going to take some time before either of them can trust you again."

"Are _you_ mad at me?"

"I told you, I'm disappointed in you."

"I don't like that word. Do you _trust_ me?"

"I don't trust you to use the phone, and I don't trust you to tell me the truth," he says. "Finish eating and go take a bath."

"I'm not hungry."

"I want you to eat at least half of your stew." He gets up and Hannah does too. They help Brian with the rest of the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.

* * *

When I get into the bath, the water feels nice and warm. I love filling the tub with as much water as I can. I'm only allowed to put in two capfuls of bubble bath now since I used to fill the tub with too much bubbles. When the bubble bath only lasted through three baths Adam told me I was using way too much.

So I sink down into the tub and put my whole body under the water. Ahhhhh...ow! I pop up really fast. My finger hurts! Bad! I pull the bandaid off and look at my cut. It's red and puffy and it hurts. I thought the stinging stuff was supposed to make it 'not' puffy! I'm not washing myself when my finger hurts this bad. Imagine how bad it'll sting with soap on it! I drain the water and get out.

I quickly dry off and put my pajamas on. I run into Hannah in the hallway when I come out.

"That was fast," she says. I look up at her and she looks down at me and says, "did you wash yourself?"

I could say yes, but that would be lying and I think I've done enough of that these past few days. "No," I tell her.

"Why not?"

I sigh. If I show her my finger she's probably gonna put more of that stinging stuff on. Oh well. I hold my finger up. "It hurts."

She takes my hand and looks at my finger. "It looks infected."

"But you put the stinging stuff on."

"I know. Sometimes it doesn't clean the cut all the way."

"Well, why not! If it stings that bad, it should work!"

She hugs me a little and says, "let me get my kit."

"No! You can't put more of that stuff on! It didn't work!" I run into my room and slam my door closed. I wish my door had a lock on it. I'll just have to sit with my back against it and push against the door as hard as I can.

There's a knock on my door and Hannah says, "I'm coming in." She turns the door knob and pushes on the door. "Move out of the way Heidi." I don't want to. "I'm going to push harder now." She does, and her push moves the door open and I get put pushed with it.

She comes in and kneels down in front of me and I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. I rest my forehead on my knees and listen to her open up her kit.

"What's going on?" Adam asks from my doorway.

"I think her cut is infected. When's the last time she had a tetanus shot?"

My head comes up fast. "No! No shot!"

"I don't know," Adam says.

"What did you use to clean her cut with when you were out working on the fence?"

"Nothing. I just held a shirt on it to stop the bleeding."

"Hmm. Did you hold it there the whole time?" She asks me.

"Just while it was bleeding," I tell her.

"Did you help with the fence when it stopped bleeding?"

"No. Adam told me to sit and stay in this one spot. It was so boring!"

"You got to play in the river for a while," Adam reminds me.

"What did you do at the river?" Hannah asks me.

"Nothing. Just what I normally do. Look for things. Evan caught a turtle and he let me hold it. We caught some frogs too."

"So you played in dirty water and held dirty animals?" She says. I shrug my shoulders.

"I guess I didn't think about that," Adam says.

"Why? What does that mean?" I ask.

"Just that there's a greater chance of infection," she says.

"It's not infected," I tell her. "It just hurts."

"Let me see," Adam says.

"No."

"Give me your hand," he says.

"No."

"Give it to me or I'm going to take it."

He ends up taking it and looks at my cut. "It just looks infected," he tells Hannah. "We just need to keep it clean and it'll go away. We've had worse looking cuts out here on the ranch and we haven't lost a finger yet."

"What?!" I yell as I yank my hand out of his hand.

"I'm kidding," he tells me. "Hannah, seriously, I've seen worse."

"I'll clean it again."

"No! Why are you making such a big deal out of this! We never used the stinging stuff before you came! Maybe that's why it's infected!"

"Sorry," she says. Adam holds my hand and she puts the stuff on. I don't make a sound. I hate the stinging stuff, but right now I'm being tough. I'm pretty good with scrapes, cuts and bruises. My brothers all say I'm tough. Unless you bring that stupid stinging stuff out. She puts a clean bandaid on my finger.

"There. I want to look at this before you go to school tomorrow."

I shrug my shoulders.

"Time for bed," Adam says.

"But it's still early," I complain.

"And you're still grounded," Adam reminds me.

I groan and we all get up off the floor. I climb in bed and they both sit down on it. "Will you tell me a story?"

"A short one," Adam says. He starts telling me a story about a little girl who tried to be a matchmaker.

"Hey! I don't want a story like that! Don't tell a story about me!"

"Well, that's the story you're gonna get tonight. Just listen."

I listen and it's pretty much about me and what I did. But he ends the story with 'the girl' apologizing and what happened after that. It doesn't have a bad ending, but it doesn't have a happy one either.

"I didn't like that story."

"I hoped you listened. I want you to think about that story and about what you did and how you're going to try and fix this. Ok?"

"Ok."

He leans over and gives me a kiss on my forehead and then stands up. Hannah gets up and comes over and kisses my forehead too.

"Goodnight," they both say.

"Goodnight." When they leave I think about Adam's story and I start to feel tired. I didn't think I would be this tired, but I'm probably tired from all the crying I did earlier. It doesn't take long before I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

When I get off the bus I know exactly where I'm going first. Straight to the office. I need to talk to Ms. Trent.

I've had a bad feeling in my stomach ever since I woke up this morning. I didn't see Crane so I haven't gotten to apologize to him yet. Hannah looked at my cut and said it was still infected, but it wasn't any worse. I talked to Guthrie while we walked to our bus stop and he agreed I should talk to Ms. Trent as soon as I got to school.

When I walk into the office Ms. Trent is standing behind the counter talking to a parent. She glances at me and doesn't smile, but she's really listening to the parent. It sounds like the parent is a little mad at her. I wait my turn until Mr. Brick walks in.

"What do you need Heidi?" He asks.

"I need to talk to Ms. Trent."

"What about?"

"It's private," I tell him.

"Go out to the playground."

"I have to talk to her! It's really important!"

"Calm down. If there's nothing I can help you with, you need to go out the playground."

"But...,"

"If you don't go out now, you will miss all your recesses for today."

"ALL of them!"

"Stop yelling. Yes, 'all' of them."

"Don't you think that's kind of mean?"

"You just lost them all. You will spend them in your classroom. I'll let your teacher know."

"Isn't that like punishing her too. What if she wants to go do something fun, like...,"

"Go now or I will send a note home that you are being uncooperative."

Hmmm. I think a note would be ok. I really need to talk to Ms. Trent and a note would be worth it.

"And along with that note, I will call home to make sure you showed it to Adam."

"Can't I show it to Brian or Crane? What about Hannah?"

"Adam. In fact, instead of calling home to see if he got the note, I think I'll just write in the note for Adam to come see me for a parent conference. 'If' I have to send a note home."

"Why are you so mean?" I ask him. I look up at him when I say that and I don't mean to be rude. I'm just curious.

His face starts to get red and he starts to glare at me. "Either you go NOW out to the playground, or I will call Adam right now and have him come pick you up!"

"Ok, I'll go! But you're mean! Why do you always have to send me home?" His face starts to look madder and I can tell he's gonna yell again. "Bye!" I yell and I run out of the office.

* * *

As soon as I leave the office the bell rings so I go right to class. Denise and I sit next to each other and she has lots of question for me about Crane's date last night. It's too hard to tell her everything since we're not supposed to be talking right now, but I try.

"Are you grounded?" She whispers.

I shake my head no and her eyes get really big. "I'll tell you why later," I say.

"Girls, stop talking," our teacher, Ms. Wilson, says.

We stop talking and listen to Ms. Wilson read from our reading book. I only listen for a minute and then I start thinking about a plan of how can I go to the office. I don't want to get in more trouble today, especially since I already lost all my recesses today. If I got sent to the office I'm sure Mr. Brick would send me home. After another minute goes by I know exactly what I have to do!

I pull my bandaid off and get out of my seat.

"Sit down, Heidi," Ms. Wilson says.

"My finger hurts. Can I go to the office?" I walk up to her and hold my finger up for her to see.

"It looks like it needs a bandaid." She puts her book down and walks to the back of the classroom where she keeps her first aid kit.

"Ms. Wilson, I think I need to go to the office. I think it's infected."

She comes back with a bandaid. "Yes it does look a little infected, but it also looks very clean." She puts the bandaid on my finger. I wish Hannah hadn't cleaned it this morning. Now I'm gonna have to think of something else. When Ms. Wilson starts reading again, I start think again. I know. I take the bandaid off and pick at my cut. It hurts, but I have to make it bleed. Finally I've got it bleeding. Not a whole lot, but not just a little drop either. I get up again.

"What is it Heidi?"

"My finger is bleeding." I hold it up for her to see.

"'Why' did you take the bandaid off?"

Good question. I didn't think about that. "Umm, because it started bleedingggg?"

She sighs and says, "come to the back with me."

I follow her but when I realize she's just gonna put another bandaid on it, I try to stop her.

"I think I should go to the office and show the secretary."

"No, you need to hold this," she hands me some cotton, "on that cut while I get another bandaid out."

I sigh because this is not gonna get me into the office. She puts another bandaid on and says, "DON'T take this one off!"

I sit down and she goes back to the front of the class and starts reading again. I've got to think of a way to see Ms. Trent. My teacher starts calling on kids to read out loud and I hope she doesn't call on me, because I'm too busy thinking about stuff to follow along in my reading book.

"Jeremy," I whisper. He sits on my other side.

"What?"

"Can I borrow your pocket knife?"

"What for?"

"Can I borrow it?"

He reaches into his pocket and pulls the knife out. When Ms. Wilson is looking at her book he hands it over to me. I'm not allowed to have a pocket knife anymore. Adam's rule, not the school's. I put my hands under my desk, pull the bandaid off and open up the knife. I look at it. This is gonna hurt, but I'm tough. I gently slide the knife across my finger making sure it cuts across my cut. It stings and I barely break the skin because I'm afraid is gonna hurt. It's starts bleeding just a little bit. I'm going to have to toughen up and just do it! I squeeze my eyes shut and dig into my cut.

"Owwwww!"

I open my eyes and everyone is looking at me. "What is it?" Ms. Wilson asks.

I dig again. "Owwwww!"

Ms. Trent starts walking towards me and I cut my finger this time instead of digging. My eyes are watering and my finger hurts. I put the knife in my desk and hide it under some paper. Then I quickly pick the bandaid up off the floor.

"What are you doing!" Ms. Wilson asks.

I hold my finger up and it's the first time I get to look at it too. Blood is racing down my hand and arm in little streams and dripping on the floor. "It hurts!"

"What in the world happened?!" She rushes to the back of the class to get some paper towels and brings them back to me. She holds one of them on my finger and with the other one she starts wiping blood off my arm. "You need to go to the office right now! Hold this on your finger the whole time. Denise, would you go with her please?"

"Yes." Denise gets up and I get up and the two of us walk out of the classroom.

* * *

"What happened?!" Denise asks once we're outside.

"I have to talk to Ms. Trent and this is the only way to do it." I tell her about this morning with Mr. Brick and then I tell her all the details of last night. She listens. She's a really good listener.

"Heidi, doesn't that hurt?"

"Yes, but it's worth it! I have to talk to her!" I look at my finger. "Actually, it doesn't really hurt anymore." That's weird.

We walk into the office and Ms. Trent is sitting at her desk. When she sees us she gets up and walks to the counter. "Hi girls." I hold up my hand and she asks, "what happened?!" She rushes around the counter and leads me into the nurse's office. I don't know why it's called that because there hasn't been a school nurse for a long time. The office is mainly used for storage, but there's a bed in there, well a cot, and Ms. Trent has me sit down on it and Denise stands in the doorway. Thank goodness Mr. Brink isn't in here!

She takes the paper towel off to look at my cut and immediately puts it back on. It's still bleeding a lot. "Keep holding that on it while I get some gauze out." She opens up a cabinet and takes some out and exchanges the paper towel with it. It works much better at sopping up the blood than that stiff, brown paper towel. She sits down and holds it on my finger.

"You can go back to class Denise," she says. "Thank you for bringing her down."

As Denise is leaving she turns around and says, "hope your finger feels better Heidi."

"Thanks."

When she's gone Ms. Trent asks what happened.

"I don't know. I guess I must've poked it on something."

"This is more than just a poke." She looks at me and I look back. I guess this is a good time to talk.

"Ms. Trent?"

"Yes."

"I have something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"You know how Crane called you and asked you out on a date?" She doesn't answer me, she just looks at me. Her eyes look a little sad and then a little mad. So I keep talking. "The night you thought was Crane was talking to you. It was me." I look at her eyes carefully now.

She looks down at my finger and lifts the gauze up a tiny bit so she can peek at my cut. It's still bleeding a lot.

"Did you hear me?" I ask.

"Yes." She's quiet for a minute and then says, "I don't understand."

I take a deep breath and say, "I thought if I could get you guys together, you'd fall in love." Her cheeks look pink now and she looks away. "I'm really sorry." I tell her the whole story about me and Guthrie calling her on Friday and then me calling her on Saturday.

She listens and when I'm finished she says quietly, "thank you for telling me that."

"Are you mad at Crane?" She looks at me and her eyes are watering. "I'm really sorry," I tell her. "Please don't be mad at Crane. He didn't know anything about it except that he was supposed to meet you at Marie's and he couldn't understand why. When he tried to call you and ask you about it, he couldn't get a hold of you because I wrote a wrong number down. He didn't even know he was supposed to meet you there. I'm really sorry."

"I guess I can't be mad at Crane."

"Oh good! I was hoping you wouldn't be! He's so nice, and once you get to know him...," she interrupts me.

"Heidi, that's enough talk about your brother. Thank you for telling me the truth. We to concentrate on your finger now. I think you might need a stitch or two."

"What?! No! It's just a little cut!"

"Have you looked at it?"

"No."

She takes the gauze away for a little bit and my finger looks bad and I start to cry a little bit. I've had to get stitches before and I don't like them.

"I'll call home."

I hope Crane is the only one home. "Maybe you'll talk to Crane. He tried to call you last night to explain and apologize." I tell her as she leaves to go to her desk. I get up and watch her from the doorway. She's dialing now, but when she's talking I can't hear what she's saying. When she hangs up I ask her who she talked to.

"Adam."

"Darn." I sit back down on the bed. That's the last person I want to come pick me up. Ms. Trent comes back in the nurse's room and sits next to me on the bed. She checks my finger again and it still hasn't stopped bleeding.

"This is a nasty cut," she says. "How did you say you got this?"

I shrug my shoulders. I guess I'd better think of a good story because Adam's gonna ask me the same question.

* * *

I'm sitting on the bed in the nurse's office when I hear Adam come in. I can't see him but I can hear him talking to Ms. Trent.

"I know her cut is a little infected, but is it worse now?" He asks.

"You knew about her finger? She didn't seem to know how it happened."

"She got poked with barbed wire."

"This isn't a barbed wire poke. This is something else."

Adam is standing in the doorway looking down at me. He's holding his cowboy hat in his hand. I look up at him and he comes in and sits down next to me. He lifts the gauze and immediately says, "what happened?!"

I shrug my shoulders. "It just started hurting and now it looks like this." I can tell he doesn't believe me, but he doesn't say anything else to me. He stands up and looks at Ms. Trent.

"Thanks for calling. I'll take her to the clinic." He turns around and looks down at me and says, "let's go."

I follow him out of the office and out to the parking lot. As soon as we're in the jeep he looks at me and says, "start talking."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Don't play games with me! What did you do to your finger?!"

I stare at him because I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say that he'll believe. I guess I'll try to tell the truth. "I kind of picked at it a little bit." I hope he believes that.

"No. Wrong answer."

"I picked at it a lottttt?"

"No."

"Then what?" I ask.

"YOU TELL ME!"

"Ok! Don't yell at me!"

"Don't tell me not to yell at you! You tell me right now what happened to that finger!"

I start crying. "Ok, but you're going to be mad!"

"Start talking!"

"I cut my finger."

"How?"

"While I was playing."

"No. 'How' did your finger get cut? Did you poke it on something?"

"No." That's all I say.

"I'm not going to guess so just tell me. I don't want to play this little game."

"I cut it."

"With what?"

I groan. "A knife," I say quietly.

"What?!" He yells. "First of all, where did you get a knife, and second, why would cut yourself with it?!"

"I got the knife from Jeremy. I cut myself so I could go to the office."

"What? Why in the world would you want to do that? And by the way, that's more than a cut. Why didn't you just ask to go to the office, or go at recess?"

"Mr. Brick took away all my recesses today. He said I had to stay in my classroom."

"Why?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't remember."

"Yeah right, we'll talk about that later. What was so important in the office that you had to cut your finger up to go there?"

"I needed to talk to Ms. Trent."

"Oh."

"I explained everything to her."

"Pretending to be Crane was a really dumb thing you did. I hope it was worth it," he says as he turns the jeep into the clinic parking lot. "You're going to need at least one stitch, maybe as many as three."

"That's ok, my finger doesn't hurt at all. I can't even feel it."

"Well that's great, you cut a nerve."

"Is that good, or bad?" He doesn't answer me.

We get out of the jeep and walk inside the clinic. Adam signs me in and we sit down. It's not crowded at all which is good. There's only three other people here in the waiting room, so we shouldn't have to wait too long.

"Let me see your finger," Adam says after we sit down. I give him my hand and he takes the gauze off my finger. "What were you trying to do? It looks you were trying to cut a circle in your finger."

"I just kind of dug into the cut that was already there."

"Out of all your brothers cuts that have landed us in the clinic or the emergency room, I have to say this the dumbest reason to have to be here."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes! None of them have ever purposely cut their finger." He puts the gauze back on and shakes his head. "Dumb. What kind of knife was it anyway?"

I _do not_ want to answer that question so I pretend I didn't hear him. I pick up a magazine laying on the end table next to me.

"I asked you a question and I know you heard me. Was it a pocket knife?"

"Yes," I say quietly as I open the magazine. He takes it out of my hands.

"You know I don't want you touching pocket knives anymore. This is one of the reasons why. You don't think, and that's dangerous."

"But when will I get to touch one again? It's been a long time."

"Not anytime soon! Not when you do dumb stuff like this."

I have nothing to say to that. Adam picks up a magazine and I look around. There's nothing to do so I'm getting bored. I bring my legs up and move around so I'm sitting on the chair on my my knees. It's easier to see what Adam is reading because I can lean over.

"Adam, how come we can't just go home and let Hannah fix my finger?"

"She can't do that at home."

"Why not?" He doesn't answer me so I think he's ignoring me again. "Why is it taking so long?"

"It's been fifteen minutes."

"That's it? It seems like we've been here for an hour!"

He looks over at me and says, "you really have no concept of time, do you?"

"What?"

"Nothing." He looks back at his magazine.

There's nothing I want to read so I get up and walk around the waiting room. I find some crayons and a coloring book on a coffee table so I sit down on the floor and kneel in front of the table. It's hard to color because of my finger, but I try my best. Finally my name is called!

Adam and I follow the nurse back to a small room and Adam tells her why we're here. She writes some stuff down and looks at my finger. She tells us the doctor will be right in and e actually is! That hardly ever happens.

Adam tells him the same stuff he told the nurse and he looks at my finger. "Was the knife clean?"

"Yes."

The doctor sits on his little doctor stool and rolls up to me. He looks at my finger closely. "How do you know the knife was clean? Did the blade have any rust on it? It was a pocket knife, right?"

"It looked clean."

"Well, I don't know about you but, I don't know too many people, especially kids, that 'clean' their pocket knives." He puts my hand down and looks at Adam. "I'd say, two stitches, some penicillin, and a tetanus shot." He wheels backwards and stands up. I'll be back in a minute."

"Did he say shot?!" I ask after he's gone.

"Yes."

"Noooo! I'm not getting a shot!"

"Too bad. Next time don't purposely cut yourself with a knife. If you hadn't done that, we wouldn't be here."

I fold my arms across my chest and shake my head. "I'm not getting one."

"Yes you are. Look, I'm not going to argue with you. You're doing what the doctor tells you to do. You did something dumb and I don't really appreciate having to be here right now!" It sounds like he's getting mad. "I've got a huge section of fence that needs to be fixed and Brian and Crane really need my help with it. They're waiting for me."

I pull my knees up to my chest and put my arms around them to hold them in close. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry your finger hurts...,"

"It doesn't hurt."

"It's going to."

The doctor comes back in with the nurse and I have to get up on the bed thing. They lay out the stuff they need to put stitches in my finger and I see the shot laying there.

"You can put the stitches in," I tell them," but, I'm not taking the shot."

"I see you have a sense of humor," the doctor says as he wheels over to me.

I don't know what he means by that. I watch them clean my cut and put two stitches in. Then the doctor picks up the shot and I jump down from the table. Adam was ready because he scoops me up and sits down in his chair with me on his lap. "Arm?" He asks.

"Yes," the nurse says so Adam pulls my sleeve up. I try to get away but I can't really move a whole lot.

"Hold still," he says. "It'll be easier that way."

"No it won't!" The nurse comes close with the needle towards my arm and I start to cry. Adam holds me tight and lowers his head so it's touching mine. "Sh," he says. "It'll be over soon. Don't look at it. Look up at me instead." I can't do that and I watch the nurse stick the needle in me and I feel it pinch.

"Owwww!"

"All done!" She says as she takes the needle out and sticks a bandaid on. "Do you want a sticker?" She asks.

"No I don't want a stupid sticker! You just poked me in the arm!" I feel Adam squeeze me so I calm down and sigh. "Sorry. No thank you. Do you have a sucker?"

"Sure. Come pick out the flavor you want."

I get down off Adam's lap and we follow her out of the room. While I get my sucker the nurse gives Adam instructions and he talks to the lady at the front counter. After that we're out the door and on our way home.

* * *

"How come Hannah's not home?" I ask as we walk in the house.

"She's working again."

"She's always working!"

"I agree. But she's helping Marie out since some of the waitresses are still sick."

Brian and Crane are in the kitchen sitting at the table. Crane is looking in 'the books' and he doesn't look up. I run up to Brian and hold up my finger. "Two stitches!" I yell. "And I didn't cry at all!"

"What?!" Adam says and laughs.

"I didn't cry when they sewed the stitches in," I remind him.

"No, just for the shot."

"What happened to your finger?" Brian asks.

"I cut it with a pocket knife!" I yell excitedly.

"_Why_ did you do _that_?" He asks.

"It's a long story." I walk over to Crane and say quietly, "do you want to see my finger?"

He looks at it quickly and then looks back down at 'the books'.

"Crane?"

I think he's ignoring me because he doesn't answer or look up. I try again. "Crane, I talked to Isabella." He still doesn't look at me. "I told her what I did and I apologized to her." I put my hand on his shoulder and say, "I'm sorry Crane." He doesn't look at me and I don't know what to do except look up at Adam. He has his serious face on and I look back at Crane. "I'm sorry, and I just thought you should know that, and that I talked to Ms. Trent."

Crane looks at me and says, "thanks." Then gets up, picks up 'the books' and walks into the living room. I start crying. "Crane! Why won't you talk to me?" I start to follow him but Adam stops me. He kneels down in front of me and says, "remember, I told you this wasn't going to be easy. You can't just say you're sorry and expect him to forgive you right away. It's going to take some time."

"How long?"

"I don't know." He hugs me and I cry. I'm not used to Crane being mad at me. I don't think he's ever ignored me before either.

"I don't like Crane being mad at me."

"I know you don't. But he doesn't like what you did. You hurt him." He lets me cry a little longer and then says, "we need to go fix the fence now."

He stands up and I ask, "what am I going to do? Can I stay here?" I hope he says yes, but I know there's no way he's letting me stay here alone.

"No. You're going to come with us. You can hold the hammer."

I glare at him as I follow them out of the house. This is 'not' going to be a fun day! I think I'd rather get another shot than hold a stupid hammer all day. But then I start to think about Crane. Maybe I can get him to forgive me while they're working. I wonder what I can do. I'm gonna fix this if it takes all day!


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you for reviewing...**

* * *

The day isn't going as badly as I thought it would. I get to do more than just hold the hammer for my brothers, but there's still not a whole lot I can help with since I have to keep my bandaged finger clean. Brian gave me a bunch of t-bars to spread out. I have to lay one on the ground and then walk a few steps before laying another one on the ground and keep going until I've laid them all out. Then I have to get more and do the same thing with those. They're hard for me to carry, but I do what Guthrie does, I just drag a bunch of them along. Brian is following behind me and picking up each t-bar I laid down and pounding it into the ground. When I'm done I run to the jeep to get some water.

The water tastes good because it's hot out here.

"Are you keeping your stitches clean?" Adam asks as he walks up to the jeep. He gets some water too.

"Yep." I hold up my finger to show him the bandage covering the stitches and it's still pretty clean.

"Good. Take a break for a minute and then I've got a job for you to do."

I watch him walk back over to the coil of barbed wire him and Crane are working with. So far I haven't had a chance to talk to Crane or help him with anything. I'm gonna have to think of some way to talk to him. A way that makes him _have_ to talk to me.

I find a bent t-bar on the ground and pick it up. Maybe I can bend it back so it's straight. I work on trying to straighten it while I think about Crane.

Him and Ms. Trent would be so perfect for each other. I forgot to ask her if she knew how to dance. Crane has _got_ to ask her to the Whiskerino Dinner Dance on Saturday. He just has to!

I can't bend the t-bar with my hands, so I try stepping on it and bending it back with my hands.

I wonder if Ms. Trent is going to the dance? I wonder how come she doesn't have a boyfriend? I know she goes on dates because she went out with Brian once. He said she wasn't his type. I wonder what he means by that. I run over to Brian with my bent t-bar.

"Brian, do you remember going out with Ms. Trent?"

He's pounding a bar into the ground pretty hard and he stops for a minute to wipe the sweat off his forehead. Then he looks at me. "Who?"

"Ms. Trent. Isabella? You now, Isabella Trent, the secretary at my school? Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, pretty."

"Oh yeah, her. What about her?"

"Why didn't you go out with her again?"

He looks like he's thinking and then he says, "she wasn't my type." He starts pounding the t-bar into the ground again.

"What does that mean?"

He doesn't answer me at first. He finishes pounding and then walks down to the next bar and picks it up. "We didn't like the same things," he says as he starts pounding that bar into the ground.

"What does that mean? She doesn't like what you like?"

"Pretty much."

I step on my bent t-bar and try to straighten it while I ask, "what do you like that she doesn't?" He doesn't answer me so I wait a while before saying, "Brian?"

He stops working and looks at me. "Look, I gotta lot of work to do here. The secretary, she's not my type. She was really nice, and we had fun, and that was it. End of story."

I stop trying to bend my t-bar and look at Brian. "If she was nice and you had fun, why didn't you go out again?" When he doesn't answer me I think about what he said some more. "Ohhhh. You didn't want to have sex with her! No wait, that's not right because you...like' to have sex." I think some more before yelling, "SHE didn't want to have sex with YOU! That's why she's not your type!" I think some more, but this time I do the thinking out loud. "So _your_ type of girl is a girl that will have sex with you,...on...the...first...date! I got it! Right?"

I can tell by the look on his face that I'm right, but that also means he's mad so I pick up my t-bar and start to run away but then I stop and turn around. "Brian, is Ms. Trent Crane's type?" When he ignores me I run back to the jeep. I'll have to ask Crane what his type is. If he ever talks to me again.

* * *

I still want to straighten this t-bar, but I'm not strong enough. Maybe if I hit it against the jeep a few times that will work. I swing the bar high above my head and bring it down as fast and as hard as I can onto the side of the jeep. A few more times of doing that should work. I think about what Crane's type is while I do that.

I don't think he has sex with girls on the first date, but I don't know that for sure. Crane goes out on dates occasionally and he meets girls at bars sometimes, but it's hard to know what his type is because he was away at college for a long time. Well, I guess Meredith was his type because she was his girlfriend for over a year. She was really nice. That must be his type. Maybe he...

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Knock it off! What do you think you're doing?!" I feel the bar being taken out of my hand and I turn around and see Adam's angry face. I stare at him.

"Didn't you hear me?!" I shake my head no. "Why are you hitting the jeep with this?!" He holds the t-bar up.

I stare at him.

"Answer me!"

"I'm trying to straighten it." I look at where I was hitting the jeep and since our jeep is already all banged up, I don't see any marks.

"How is banging it against the jeep going to straighten it?!"

I look at the metal bar. I guess he has a point. "I don't know," I say quietly.

"Well stop it!" He calms down a little bit and says, "come help me. I have a job for you to do."

I follow Adam over to where Crane is. I look at Crane, but he's busy working so he doesn't look at me.

"I want you to go along the fence line and pick up all the scraps and bars and put them in a pile right here." He throws the bent t-bar on the ground that I was trying to straighten.

"Ok." I'm glad to be doing something so I quickly get to work. After a while I get tired of doing my job. There are so many little things to pick up! I throw some scraps on the pile and walk over to Crane.

"Crane, are you mad at me?"

"I don't want to talk about this now." He doesn't even look at me. He doesn't even stop working.

"But Crane, I'm sorry. I don't want you to be mad at me."

"Heidi, I really don't want to talk about it now." He stops working now and looks at me. "I've got a lot of work to do here. Go away and finish your job." He goes back to work and I stare at him. I feel like crying.

"But,"

"No! Go away!"

Adam is here now and he says, "Heidi, get back to work." As I leave I hear him talking quietly to Crane. "You don't have to yell at her."

"Adam, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"She's ten. She's afraid you're never going to talk to her again."

"Can we just get this fence finished? I'll talk to her. Eventually. I'm just not ready yet."

They both go back to work and so do I. I get bored quickly, and I decide to take a short break. I sit down and pick up some small rocks to throw in the bushes. I stop when I hear a rustling noise coming from one of the bushes. I get up and walk over to the bush to get a closer look.

There's a tiny bird in the bush, it looks like a Bushtit. It sings to me when it sees me. Then it hops further back into the bush. I walk around the bush to see where it's going and to see if there's a nest. One time I found a Bushtit nest in a bush that had five baby birds in it. I can't see a nest, but I watch the little bird hop out of the bush and fly over to the next one. Maybe the nest is in that bush.

I follow the bird from bush to bush until I hear the sound of the river. I look around me and realize I'm in the area between our fence and the river. The wooded area. I need to get back before someone finds out I'm gone. The only problem is, I'm a little stuck in all these prickly bushes. I'm not deep in the bushes, but I'm in far enough to feel like I'm surrounded by branches. I wonder why I didn't feel them poking me when I was following the little bird.

I turn around a bit in a circle to find the best way of getting out, and when I find it I start moving in that direction. I hear more rustling in the bushes to my left. There might be two birds now. I glance over to where the noise is coming from and do I double take. There is something in the bushes, no, not _in_ the bushes, but right at the edge of the bushes. Something big! With brown hair! It _has_ to Bigfoot! I hear the rustling sound again and it's louder than before. I squeeze out of the bushes and stare at the thing with brown hair that's about twenty feet away from me. I hear rustling noises again and my body stiffens so it's straight as a board and I squeeze my eyes shut. Then I scream as loud as I possibly can.

* * *

"Heidi! What's wrong?! What is it?!" Brian yells as he runs up to me. Adam and Crane are running towards me too.

"Bigfoot!" I scream and I point to the big animal hiding at the edge of the bushes.

"What?" Adam runs over to the animal and says, "gosh darn it! We lost another one!" Brian and Crane go over to look.

"What?! Is he dead? Is Bigfoot dead?" I yell.

"No."

"He's alive?!" I start screaming.

"No! Heidi, this isn't Bigfoot. It's one of our cows," Crane says.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Something got it. Come on, come back up to the fence with me."

"No, I want to see it. Did Bigfoot kill it? Is the cow all chewed up?"

"No, just a little." Crane picks me up to carry me back to the fence.

"Bigfoot eats animals. Big animals. He could eat a cow," I tell him. "Right?"

"I guess Bigfoot could eat anything he wanted to."

"Even _people_?"

"Heidi, we've talked about this before. Bigfoot is not going to eat you. He's not going to eat any of us."

"How do you know that?"

"We don't even know if Bigfoot is real," he says.

"What?! You don't think Bigfoot is real?! Then what killed the cow? And _who_ wrecked our fence?"

"I don't know, probably a mountain lion."

"A mountain lion can't bend a fence. He can't even...," I don't know what else to say a mountain lion can't do. Crane puts me down and he walks over to where he was working. I follow him. He crouches down to look at the barbed wire and picks up his tool. He's talking to me now, maybe he'll listen to me now too. "Crane, I'm really sorry."

He puts his tool down and looks at me.

"I'm sorry for pretending to be you on the phone and asking Isabella out. I didn't mean to hurt her or you, and I'm sorry I did."

"Ok."

"Ok? Like, ok you forgive me?"

"Keep talking," he says.

"I told Ms. Trent I was sorry and I explained everything I did. She's not mad at you. I even had to cut my finger up to tell her I was sorry."

"What?"

"Mr. Brick wouldn't let me talk to her, so I had to hurt my finger. I made it bleed a lot and my teacher let me go to the office so Ms. Trent could clean it. I cut it pretty good." I hold my finger up. "Two stitches."

"Well that wasn't very smart." His eyes are smiling a little when he says that.

"It was the only way I could talk to her and tell her how sorry I was. I explained everything to her and I told her you had no idea I did it. She's not mad at you anymore."

He looks at me really seriously. "Heidi I was mad when I found out what you did."

"I know," I say quietly. "I'm really sorry."

"I don't like you pretending to be me on the phone. Now I know how Adam feels. People don't like to be tricked like that."

"I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

"I hope you don't. The other thing I'm mad about is you hurting Isabella. She seems like a very nice lady."

"She is."

"And you hurt her. It must have felt really bad to sit all alone in a restaurant thinking you're meeting someone and they never show up."

I start to cry. "I know. I'm sorry, I feel really bad about that. Crane, I didn't think this would happen. I thought you guys would like each other and would be happy I got you together."

"I know," he says quietly. "Come here."

I run the few steps to him and hug him. He almost falls over because I charge into him. He hugs me and holds me while I cry. "I'm sorry."

"I know." We hug each other for a while. When I stop crying he says, "Heidi, I was going to ask her out."

I pull away from him to look at him. "You were?"

"Yes."

"That's great!" I wipe my eyes. "I think you guys are going to like each other a lot!"

I smile at him, but my smile fades when he says, "I _was_ going to ask her out."

"Why aren't you going to ask her out now?"

"I don't think she'd want to go now."

"Yes she would! You _have_ to ask her out! I'll ask her if she'll go out with you." Then I add, "if 'you' ask her out this time instead of me."

"No. You _won't_ ask her if she'll go out with me. You need to mind your own business. That's what got you into this mess in the first place."

"Crane? I really do think you and Isabella would be perfect for each other. I think she's your type."

"Oh you do, do you?" He smiles at me. "And what exactly is my type?"

"Well, Brian said she's not his type, and his type is the kind of girl that has sex on the first date."

"What?! He told you that?!"

"No, I figured it out. That means Ms. Trent _doesn't_ like to have sex on the first date. So which is your type? The girl that has sex, or the girl that doesn't?"

He laughs and says, "none of your business!" Then he stands up and picks me up under my arm pits and swings me around in a circle until I laugh.

Adam and Brian come walking up and Crane asks about the cow.

"Pretty sure it was a mountain lion."

"_Pretty_ sure?" I say. "So that means it _could've_ been Bigfoot."

They all three look at me. "Would you stop it with the Bigfoot?" Adam says. "It was a mountain lion or a pack of coyotes. Not Bigfoot." They talk about what to do with the dead cow and I very quietly say, "but you don't know for sure."

* * *

By the time my brothers get the new fence put up it's time to go home for dinner. I helped as much as I could, but by the end of the day, I was bored out of my mind. I am so happy to be in the jeep right now driving back to the house. The first thing I'm going to do is find Guthrie and tell him about the dead cow. He's in the kitchen helping Hannah and my brothers get dinner on the table.

"Guess what Guthrie! Bigfoot ate one of our cows!"

"He did?"

"Yes! He ruined our fence and came in and took one of our cows and ate it!"

Daniel and Evan think that's funny.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Bigfoot doesn't need to ruin our fence to get to the cows. He just needs to hop over it."

"Oh yeah? Then how'd he get the cow out of the pasture without ruining the fence?" They don't have an answer for that.

We all sit down at the table and start passing the food around. When Hannah sits down she asks me if I washed my hands.

"I forgot." I get up and go to the sink but I'm not supposed to get my bandage wet. I'll just have to wash carefully. After I finish I sit back down in my seat and listen. Everyone at my end of the table is talking about Bigfoot.

"How can you not believe in Bigfoot?" Guthrie asks Hannah.

"I don't think there's any real proof he exists."

"What'd you mean?" He says. "People have seen him. He's been seen at Johnson's lake.

"Maybe," she says.

"They saw him at Bear Valley," I tell her.

"I just don't believe it, that's all."

"But he ate our cow."

"Adam says a mountain lion got to it."

"But he doesn't know that for sure," I say.

Hannah changes the subject when she sees the bandage on my finger. "Who put the bandage on your finger?"

"The doctor." I take a bite of my chicken.

"The doctor? What are you talking about?"

"You don't know? Well, I had to go get stitches today."

"Why? Your cut wasn't _that_ bad."

"Well, I sort of rehurt it at school," I tell her.

"What does that mean?" She asks.

"Yeah," Guthrie says. "What happened."

"I accidentally cut it," I say quietly, hoping that's the end of the conversation.

"What happened? What did you cut it on?"

I stare at her. I'm not sure I want to tell her.

"Heidi, what did you cut it on?"

"A knife."

"A knife?!" She yells.

Whoa! Hannah doesn't yell. Everyone has stopped talking and is staring at her. She's still looking at me.

"How did you cut it on a knife?"

"I just cut it."

Adam says, "she cut her finger with a pocketknife."

"Why?!"

"It's a long story," I say quietly because now everyone's looking at me. I look down at my plate.

Crane says, "she cut her finger so she could talk to Ms. Trent."

I'm still looking down at my plate but I can hear some of my brothers laugh a little bit, especially Guthrie.

"This is _not_ funny!" Hannah says.

"Honey, it was a pocketknife. I've already talked to her about it," Adam says.

"Well I hope you told her how dangerous that was!"

"I don't think he did," I tell her as I look up at her.

"Well he should have!"

The whole kitchen is quiet. It's a weird kind of quiet. I think Hannah's mad. I think she's mad at me.

"You cut your finger with a knife?!"

"Yes," I say quietly.

"Do you have any idea what could've happened to your finger?"

"You mean besides getting stitches and a shot and having to take yucky medicine?" I look at her. "No."

"You could've gotten blood poisoning, a staff infection, more stitches, and it must of hurt an awful lot."

"Not really. After I sliced it, the tip of my finger was numb."

"That means you cut a nerve!"

I don't know what to say.

"Hannah, she's not supposed to use a pocketknife and she won't," Adam tells her.

"I already thought she wasn't supposed to use a pocketknife."

I stare at her because she's staring at me. I think she's ignoring Adam.

"Are you supposed to use a pocketknife?" She asks.

"No," I tell her and then I look down at Adam. I don't understand what's happening here. Is she mad at me, or Adam.

"Hannah, I already talked to her about this," Adam says. I think he's starting to get mad too.

"Just like you talked to her the last time you told her not to use a pocketknife? It looks like she didn't listen, did she."

"She cut herself," Adam says. "I think you're overreacting!"

"You think _I'm_ overreacting?!"

"Yes! I do!"

"Well, maybe that's because you're _under_ reacting!"

Brian clears his throat really loudly. "Do you guys want to take this outside?"

"No!" They both yell at him.

I look at Guthrie. I feel like crying. Why are they fighting?

Hannah looks at me and says, "I've seen a lot of bad cuts Heidi. Hurting yourself on purpose is not ok!"

Now I cry.

She keeps going. "I've seen people lose fingers before because their cut got badly infected!" She's not looking at me now, she's looking at Adam. "Heidi, that was a dangerous thing to do and hopefully you don't get a staff infection because of it!"

Guthrie asks, "why are you looking at Adam when you say that?"

She doesn't answer. Her and Adam are glaring at each other.

"I'm sorry Hannah," I tell her, but I don't think she can hear me. I guess she can hear me though because no one else is talking. "Hannah?"

Then Adam says to her, "let's _talk_ about this later." He starts eating again and so does everyone else. I feel bad. I don't know why they're fighting. The whole kitchen is quiet and when it's time for dessert Hannah brings two apple pies over and sets them on the table. Then she puts her dishes in the sink and leaves. Adam gets up and follows her.

"Uh-oh," Brian says. "I wouldn't want to be him right now."

My brothers laugh and they start talking to each other. I eat my dessert quietly and then help Brian and Crane with the dishes afterwards. Today's my last day of being grounded.

"Why are Adam and Hannah mad at each other?" I ask them.

"Who knows," Brian says.

"Are they gonna get a divorce?" I ask.

"No," Crane says.

"Are they gonna sleep together tonight, or is Adam gonna sleep on the couch?"

They laugh a little. "Don't know, little sis, don't know," Brian says.

When I'm finished helping I go find Guthrie. He's not in the living room, so he must be upstairs. I go up there and when I walk by Adam and Hannah's room I hear them yelling, so I stop to listen.

"I don't know why she does the things she does!" I hear Adam yell. "She's Heidi. She does stuff without thinking and she always has a reason for everything she does. Today she was banging a metal bar against the jeep because it was bent and she wanted to straighten it. She doesn't think."

"So you think it's ok for her to cut herself because she doesn't think?"

"I NEVER said cutting herself was ok! She's not supposed to be playing with pocketknives to begin with!"

"Then why was she playing with one?"

Their room is quiet. I guess he's trying to think of an answer. "I don't know Hannah. Why are you so mad about this?" He says that quieter.

"I'm sorry Adam. I don't know why I'm so upset. Maybe I'm just scared she's going to really hurt herself someday doing something stupid like she did today."

Now their room is quieter. They're not yelling anymore, they're talking quietly and I can't hear them. I leave and go to my room to get my markers. I know what I'm going to do.

I get my markers fast and run downstairs to get a piece of paper out from the desk. I take my stuff into the kitchen and set it on the table. I stand at the table and start writing a letter.

"Dear Hannah,

I'm sorry I cut myself today. I shouldn't have done it. I promise I won't play with pocketknives anymore. Please don't be mad at Adam. He told me not to touch them, but I did it anyway. You could yell at me instead of Adam. I'm sorry. Love, Heidi."

There. I draw a picture of me with a bloody finger and tears on my cheeks. Then I make a speech bubble and write "I'm sorry." in it. Then I fold it in half and write, "To Hannah" on the front. I take it and my markers and run upstairs. When I get to Adam and Hannah's room I carefully slide the letter under their door. Then I run to my room and put my markers away. I hear their door open and then I hear it close again.

Guthrie comes in and says, "guess what?"

"What?"

"Daniel, Evan and Ford are going hunting for Bigfoot tonight and I get to go!"

"I want to go!"

"Ok, but you can't tell anyone."

"Why not?"

"Because we're sneaking out to do it!"

"What?!"

"Sh!" Then he whispers, "I overheard them making a plan to sneak out tonight. They're letting me come along since I heard them. They're going to take the jeep and drive out to where the dead cow was. Then we're gonna go look for Bigfoot there!"

"Aren't they afraid they're gonna get in trouble?"

"I guess not."

"Won't you be scared?"

"Do you want to come, or not?"

"I guess so. I'm a little scared because it'll be late at night. I thought you meant they were going out now."

"No, Adam won't let them go on a school night. So we're gonna sneak out."

"Ok." I'm not so sure I want to go though. I get scared at night sometimes.

"When everyone's asleep, were gonna sneak out. I'll wake you up."

"Ok."

We get startled when I hear Hannah say, "Heidi, can we talk to you for a minute?" She's standing in my doorway holding the letter I wrote. Adam is with her.

"Ok."

"Why don't you come into our room," she says.

I follow them back to their room and when I'm inside she shuts the door and I sit on their bed. Adam sits on the chair that's across from me and over by his dresser, and Hannah sits next to me on the bed. When neither of them says anything I ask, "what'd you want to talk about?"

"Thank you for the letter," Hannah says. "It's sweet." She's quiet and I look at her and I can tell she wants to say more. Then she says, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Did you tell Adam you were sorry for yelling at him too?" I ask.

"I don't want to talk about Adam now," she says. "We want to talk to _you_ now."

"Ok." I sit quietly and listen. When no one says anything I say, "how come you're not talking? Wait, am I in trouble for cutting myself?"

"Heidi, you did something dangerous. You know I know a lot about first aid, right?"

I nod my head.

"I've seen so many bad cuts from accidents. Horrible cuts that don't heal sometimes. It really disappoints me that you purposely cut yourself today."

I look at Adam. I don't know where she's going with all this. Adam is staring at Hannah so I tell her, "I had to do it. It was the only way to talk to Isabella."

"No it wasn't," she says.

"Yes it was." I look at Adam again. How come he's not saying anything?

"Think of something you could've done instead of hurting yourself," she tells me.

"I can't. That's the only thing I can think of. There's nothing else."

"Think harder," she says.

I don't think I like this. "No. I'm already thinking as hard as I can." I start to glare at her.

"Come on, I know you can think of something better than hurting yourself."

"Nope."

"You're not even trying."

"Yes I am." I'm quiet for a second and then I say, "see, I thought. I can't think of anything else."

Hannah looks at Adam now and he comes over and sits on the bed on my other side.

"Heidi, we're trying to get you to think about what you could've done differently today," he says.

I don't wait for him to finish. "I know. There wasn't anything else I could do." Now I'm getting mad. "I needed to go to the office, my teacher wouldn't let me, so I hurt myself. Then she let me go."

"What about going there at recess?" Hannah asks.

"Mr. Brick wouldn't let me. He said I had to stay in my classroom for all the recesses today."

"Why?" Adam asks.

"He's mean, that's why!"

"Heidi, we're trying to _talk_ about this, not yell," he says.

"Fine! Then why don't _you_ tell me what I should've done, because I sure as heck don't know!"

Hannah reaches behind me and puts her hand on Adam's arm. I guess to calm him down. Then she says, "what about talking to her after school?"

"I would've missed the bus." I fold my arms across my chest and say, "I would've gotten in trouble if I missed the bus! You would've been mad if you had to come pick me up!" I say that part to Adam, then I say to Hannah, "so what's your next idea?"

Adam picks me up and stands me in front of him and holds onto me while he says, "I don't like your attitude right now! Quit being a smart aleck and think! Or I'll give you something else to think about!"

I don't know what that means, and I don't think I want to find out. "Ok. But I really can't think of anything."

"You could've talked to her tomorrow," Hannah suggests.

I shrug my shoulders. "I really wanted to talk to her today." I look at the letter I wrote for Hannah that's laying on the bed next to her and I get an idea. "I know! I could've written her a letter instead!"

"That would've been much better than cutting yourself," Hannah says.

"Was that the right answer?" I ask.

"Let's see if you can think of something else."

"Why? I should've written a letter. There's nothing else to think about. Am I in trouble? Are you gonna ground me again?" When they're quiet and stare at me I groan and start to cry. "I am, aren't I? I'm sorry! I won't do it again! I'll think next time! I don't know what else you want me to say! This is too hard!"

Adam picks me up and puts me on his lap. I lean against him and cry.

"Please don't purposely hurt yourself," he says.

Hannah says, "yes. Please don't do that again."

"I won't!" I cry. "I won't! I promise!"

Hannah moves closer to us and hugs us.

"I'm sorry," I tell them. "Hannah? Are you mad at Adam?"

"No."

"Then why were you guys yelling at each other?"

"Sometimes grown-ups do that," she says.

"You were mad. I'm not used to you yelling like that."

"I'm sorry," she says. "Hurting yourself like that worries me. It's very dangerous to do, especially for the reason you did it. Do you realize that? You hurt yourself because you wanted to 'talk' to someone."

I look up at her. "I didn't think about it like that."

"I should've told you that earlier today," Adam says. "It wasn't ok what you did today."

Now I look up at him. "I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

"I hope you don't," he says.

"Do you think Crane will ask Isabella out?" I ask.

"I don't know."

"He should ask her to Whiskerino. Don't you think so?" I smile at them. "Hey, are you guys gonna go?"

"If we went, _who_ would watch _you_?" Adam says while he smiles down at me.

"You could make Evan, Daniel, or Ford watch me."

"I'm sure they'd love that."

"But you guys should go out and have some fun. You should go on a date." I get off Adam's lap and stand in front of them. I take Adam's hand and Hannah's hand and hold them. "You need to go out. Then you won't yell at each other so much."

They laugh and Hannah says, "do you think we yell at each other a lot?"

"You did tonight. A lot!" I put Hannah's hand on Adam's. "You should go out next Saturday. Guthrie and I don't need anyone to watch us. We can stay home alone."

Adam laughs at that. "That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

"What?! You've done it before."

"And it was a mistake every time!"

"I'm sure one of our brothers will watch us."

Adam stands up and says, "we'll see."

"Does that mean you'll go?!"

He lifts my chin up and says, "we'll see."

Hannah stands up and says, "let me see your finger. We've got to make sure that bandage stays clean, and from the looks of it, it's pretty dirty."

"You're not gonna put the stinging stuff on it, are you?"

"I don't think so."

"Then no, you can't look at it." I put my hand behind my back.

"Heidi, show Hannah your finger," Adam says.

"Why? I already got a shot today _and_ stitches, _and_ I have to take yucky tasting medicine. I don't want stinging stuff too!"

"I just want to look at it," she says.

I quickly hold my finger up and say, "see!" Then I hide it behind my back again only I'm not fast enough and Adam grabs my hand. "Hey!"

"Hey what?"

"Hey you can't do that!"

Hannah looks at my finger and says, "yep, just as I thought. That bandage is filthy!"

I groan. "Adam, tell her it's not dirty. Pleeeeeease?" I look up at him and smile.

"Nope."

Hannah takes the bandage off and says, "the wound looks clean and the stitches look good."

"Does that mean no stinging stuff?"

"Yes. I'll just put a clean bandage on."

That makes me happy.

Adam says, "Hannah, Heidi's medicine is in the kitchen. Can you give it to her? I'm going to talk to Brian and Crane about our mountain lion problem."

"You mean Bigfoot problem," I remind him.

"Right. The Bigfoot problem." He gives Hannah a kiss and leaves while Hannah gets a bandage out of her kit. She puts the new one on and goes downstairs to get my medicine. Guthrie is waiting in the hallway for me to come out.

"Heidi, tonight when you go to bed, change back into your clothes."

"Why?"

"So you'll be ready to go when I come get you. You can't go hunting for Bigfoot in your pajamas! After you get tucked in and Adam leaves, put your clothes back on and get back in bed. Then I'll come get you when it's time to go."

"Ok. But Guthrie, I'm not sure I want to go."

"Why? You wanted to go last night."

"But this will be late at night."

"So, it's just as dark at ten o'clock as it is at one o'clock."

"I know, but I'm a little scared."

"You've never been scared to go before."

"That's probably because we never snuck out to do it."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. Do you want to? It's gonna be fun!"

"I guess so."

"Ok."

"I have to go downstairs to take my medicine now." I run down the stairs and Adam, Brian and Crane are at the front door putting their jackets on.

"Where are you guys going?"

"Out looking for coyotes or a mountain lion," Brian says.

"Or Bigfoot," I remind him.

"Sure, why not," he says.

"Wait. You guys are bringing your shotguns aren't you?"

"We always bring them when we go hunting," Crane says.

"But you _can't_ kill Bigfoot!" I cry.

"Heidi, we're not going to kill Bigfoot," Adam says.

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise you we will not kill Bigfoot," he says.

"'All' of you have to promise!"

"Ok, I promise," Crane says.

"Same here," Brian says.

Adam leans down and kisses my forehead. "Hannah is going to put you to bed tonight."

"Ok." I say, and when they leave I go into the kitchen to take my medicine.

* * *

The night is a pretty normal night. Daniel, Evan and Ford are working on their homework at the kitchen table. Hannah helps me with my flashcards and then she plays a game with me and Guthrie. When it's bedtime she comes upstairs with me and waits in my room while I get ready for bed.

"Hannah, how come you don't believe in Bigfoot?" I ask her.

"I already told you. There's no proof he exists."

"If I could find proof, would you believe?"

"I guess so."

"Then I'm gonna find you some proof!"

"Ok. Get into bed."

I climb in bed and pull the covers up over me, and she asks what book she should read to me. Sometimes when Hannah tucks me in I like her to read one of my princess books. This is one of those nights. "Cinderella," I tell her.

"Ok."

She looks for it and I tell her it's probably under my bed. I lean over and look and I see it. "Yep, it's under here."

She leans down and gets it and sits down on my bed. She starts to read the story and I look at the first page. Then I look at Hannah's face and stop listening. Hannah is really pretty. Her hair always looks nice. She curls it and feathers it. Her lips are a pretty red color and I don't think she's wearing any lipstick. Without thinking I reach up and touch her lip. No, there's no lipstick.

"What are you doing?" She asks.

"What?"

"You touched my lip. Why?"

"Oh. I was just seeing if you were wearing lipstick." She always has a pretty smile on her face too. Like right now. She goes back to reading the story. I hope Crane finds someone like Hannah. I hope Brian does too. I don't really like the girls Brian goes out with. He liked a girl named Laura, and she was really nice, but she was only here for a few weeks.

"Heidi? Did you hear me?"

"What?" I guess Hannah was talking to me.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Brian and Crane. I want them to find a girlfriend like you."

She smiles. "That's nice. They'll find someone."

"But I want her to be nice. Like you. Isabella is nice. I really want Crane to go out with her."

"You have to let your brothers find a girl _they_ like. Not just one _you_ like."

"But he'd like her! I know he would!"

"I bet you're right. But _he_ has to ask her out. Maybe he will, maybe he won't." Hannah closes the book and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight," she says.

"Goodnight." When she leaves I think about Crane and Isabella and close my eyes. But then I remember what Guthrie told me to do. I get out of bed quietly and put my clothes back on. I make sure my flashlight and shoes are by the door and then I get back in bed and pull the covers way up high so they cover up my shirt. I'm still not sure I want to go with them. I think I might be too scared. I also don't want to get in trouble. Adam didn't ground me for pretending to be Crane, and he didn't ground me today for cutting myself. I don't think I want to chance it. He might just get really mad and decide to ground me for everything. I don't know what to do. I guess I'll just decide when Guthrie comes to get me.


	9. Chapter 9

"Guthrie!" Evan whispers loudly. "Why'd you tell her what we were doing?!"

"I knew she would want to go."

"We only told you about it 'cause you overheard us. She'll be too scared," Daniel says.

"No I won't," I tell them. "Please can I come? I promise I won't cry or anything."

"I guess so," Daniel says. "But you know it's gonna be dark out there."

"I know. I have my flashlight."

"Ok, let's go."

The five of us sneak out the back door to go on our hunt for Bigfoot. Once I'm outside though, I start to feel scared. "Guthrie, I'm scared," I whisper.

"Then don't come. If you're scared right here on the porch, imagine how scared you'll be out there."

"I don't think I want to go."

"I'll tell Daniel."

Guthrie runs and catches up with Daniel while I stay on the bottom step of the porch. Daniel, Evan, Ford and Guthrie come back to talk to me.

"Heidi, if you're scared you don't have to come. Honest. Go back inside and go to bed. We'll take you out on another night when we don't have to sneak out," Daniel says.

"You will?"

"Yeah. Maybe we can do it this weekend."

"But aren't _you_ guys going to be scared tonight?"

"No, we've got our shotguns," Evan says.

"Don't kill him!"

"The guns aren't for Bigfoot. We're taking them in case we run into coyotes or a mountain lion," Ford tells me.

"You're taking one too, Ford?"

"Yes. It's better to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

"In case there's a rabid animal out there," Daniel says. Then he crouches down in front of me and says, "Heidi, it's ok to be scared. You don't have to come with us. In fact, I'm not letting you come with us."

"Why not?!"

"Sh. Because you're scared. Go back to bed. You'll feel better if you do."

"Ok. But if you find Bigfoot, you have to wake me up and tell me. Don't wait until morning."

"Ok, you got a deal," Daniel says. "Now go back to bed."

"Ok. Be careful," I tell them, and I walk up the porch steps and they wait for me to go inside the house.

* * *

I can't sleep. Guthrie woke me up at one o'clock to go with them, and ever since I got back in bed I haven't been able to sleep. It's two o'clock now and I wonder what they're doing. I hope they're ok. What if they ran into Bigfoot? What if there are two Bigfoots? I'm really worried about my brothers. I wonder how long they're gonna stay outside. I get out of bed and get one of my stuffed animals. It's a small puppy that Evan gave me for Christmas. I hug it tight and talk to it.

"They'll be ok. They have their shotguns. But Guthrie doesn't have a shotgun!" I start to cry quietly. "Bigfoot wouldn't eat him like he ate the cow, would he? He would!" I'm crying a little louder now. "I wish they would come back!" I squeeze my eyes shut really tight and hug my puppy really tight and say, "please make them come back!" All of a sudden I feel someone sit on my bed. "You're back!" I yell and I open my eyes. Only it's not them, it's Adam.

"Who's back?" He asks. "What's wrong? Why are you crying? Did you have a bad dream?"

I shake my head back and forth really quickly. He scoots closer and puts me on his lap.

"What's wrong? What were you talking about?"

I can't stop crying. I wish they would come home.

Adam holds me and says, "everything's going to be ok. You're ok."

"No, it's not ok!"

"What do you mean? What's wrong Heidi? Did you have a bad dream?"

"No."

"Are you scared?"

"Yes."

"What are you scared of?"

"Bigfoot," I say quietly.

Adam hugs me a little tighter and says, "you don't need to be scared of Bigfoot. He's outside somewhere, probably way far away." That makes me cry harder. He lifts my chin up and says, "hey, you're safe here. I got you."

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about them!" I cry.

"What are you talking about? Them, who?"

"I can't tell you."

"Heidi, I don't know what kind of dream you had, but whatever you're scared of, you can tell me."

"It's not a dream! It's real!"

He hugs me tighter and kisses the top of my head.

"They're not back yet and I'm scared for them."

"Who's not back yet? Your brothers? Heidi, Crane and Brian didn't go into town tonight, remember? We went out looking for whatever killed the cow."

"It was probably Bigfoot!" I look up at him. "Did you see him?"

He wipes the tears off my cheeks. "No Heidi, we didn't see him."

"Did you find out what killed the cow?"

"No."

"See! What if it was Bigfoot! What if there are two Bigfoots? Or three, or a whole family, or...,"

"Heidi, stop! You're getting hysterical."

I don't know what that means. All I know is, I can't take it anymore. I have to tell Adam. Maybe he can save them.

"Adam? Guthrie, Daniel, Ford and Evan are out looking for Bigfoot, and I think something bad happened to them!"

Adam doesn't say anything at first. Then he says, "what do you mean? They're outside right now?"

I look up at him and say, "yes."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was gonna go with them, but I was too scared. I'm sorry."

"It's ok."

"Are you mad?"

"What time did they leave? Do you know?"

"One o'clock. They've been out there for hours and they haven't come back yet."

"Heidi, it's just after two. They've been gone for a little over an hour. Do you know where they were going?"

"Yes. They were going to where the dead cow was. They took the jeep. Are you going to go get them?"

"No."

"But they'll get eaten!"

He lifts my chin up. "No, they won't. Your brothers know the ranch and they know how to hunt."

"So you're not mad?"

"I'm mad at them for sneaking out on a school night. Thank you for tell me, Heidi."

"But, I'm still scared. I'm afraid they're gonna get hurt!"

"They'll be fine. You need to go back to sleep."

"I can't! Not until they come home!"

"You need to _try_." He gets up with me and then lays me down on the bed. "Close your eyes."

I close my eyes, but then they pop open again. "I'm scared."

"There's nothing to be scared of. Close your eyes."

"No. I'm not gonna go to sleep until they're back!"

Adam sighs and scratches his head. He looks tired. "Well, I guess you can come downstairs with me and wait for them there. I was going to go wait on the couch."

"Can I ?" I smile for the first time.

I grab my puppy as Adam picks me up and carries me out of my room. "Let's go wait together."

"Are they gonna be in trouble?" I ask.

"Well, I think I just found three babysitters for you and Guthrie for this Saturday night." He carries me down the stairs and turns a lamp on. Brian is sleeping down here and he sits up when the light goes on.

"What's up?" He says. He sounds tired and his eyes are only half open. "Is it time to get up already?"

"No, go back to sleep," Adam says. "I'm waiting for four boys who snuck out to go hunt for Bigfoot."

Brian groans. "I hope they find him and shoot him."

"What?!" I yell. "They can't kill him!"

Adam puts me down on the couch and says, "he's being sarcastic."

"What?"

"He's joking. Brian's already asleep."

He's right because I can hear him snoring now. Adam sits next to me on the couch. "I want you to try and go to sleep."

"Ok." I stare at the door from where I'm sitting.

"Come here," Adam says as he scoots me towards him. I lean over against him and he puts his arm around me. "Now close your eyes."

I close them, but they don't stay closed. "Adam? Do you think Bigfoot has a family?"

"I don't know. I never thought about it before."

I yawn. "I wonder if he has kids. Hey! There could be little Bigfoots!"

"I don't know. I think you should be quiet and go to sleep."

"What if there's a baby Bigfoot?!"

"Heidi, be quiet."

"Yes," Brian says. "Be quiet. Bigfoot doesn't have a family. He's a loner, he doesn't want to have any kids around him that keep him awake."

"Then where are they?"

"Back at the cave with their mom."

"What cave?! Do you think it's a cave near us?! We could go find it!"

Now both Brian and Adam groan and Adam says, "Heidi, you're letting your imagination go wild."

"But there _has_ to be baby Bigfoots. Everyone's a baby once."

Brian says, "this Bigfoot is over a thousand years old. He's traveled all over the world."

"He is? How does he get across the ocean?"

"He's a really good swimmer." Brian says and he laughs a little bit.

"Won't the sharks eat him?"

"No. 'He' eats the sharks."

"In the water?"

Adam says, "Brian, will you stop. I'm trying to get her to go back to sleep. Not get her mind racing. Do you know how many questions she can ask?"

"So he's not a thousand years old?" I ask.

"No," Brian says. "He's _two_ thousand years old."

"Brian!" Adam yells.

I start to ask a question but Adam reaches around with his arm and covers my mouth with his hand. "You. Shut it."

I giggle and move my head around to try to get away from his hand. I can't and after awhile he moves it away from my mouth. Brian is up and walking over towards a window.

"What are you doing?" I ask. "Are you going to go get them?"

"Nah. It's cold out there tonight. Those guys are gonna be tired in the morning too."

"I think we all are," Adam says.

"Then we should all sleep in and skip school!" I say.

"No."

"Aw, why not? I always go to school. I go everyday!"

Brian says from the window, "you might _go_ everyday, but I think you get sent home on half of those days."

"Hey! I do not!" I look at Adam, but he doesn't say anything. "I don't, do I?"

It looks like Adam's thinking about that. "Not half the days, but you do get sent home a lot."

"That's because Mr. Brick doesn't like me." I complain.

"That's not why," Adam says. "You know why, and we're not going to talk about that right now. You need to go to sleep."

"But, isn't it almost time to get up? Is it five o'clock? Is that when you get up?"

"It's not five o'clock, Heidi. How long do you think we've been down here?" Adam asks.

I look up at him and say, "three hours?"

"What?! _Maybe_ we've been down here a half hour, forty-five minutes at the most. How do you get three hours out of that?"

"I don't know. I guess it just _seems_ like we've been down here that long."

I can hear Brian laugh a little bit. "You want me to put on a pot of coffee, Adam?"

"I guess so. I guess I'm not going to sleep anytime soon." Then he looks down at me. "But you are. Settle down and close your eyes. Your mouth too, short stuff!"

I smile at him and snuggle close to him and close my eyes. I hug my puppy and try to go to sleep. After a while I can smell coffee. I'm tired now and I know Brian brought Adam a cup of coffee and they're talking quietly about ranch stuff. That makes me even more tired and pretty soon I don't hear anything anymore as I go to sleep.

* * *

I jump up when I hear the door slam shut and arguing.

"It's a school night!" Adam yells. "And why are you bringing Guthrie out this late at night?"

"Sorry Adam," Evan says. "But you know, once there's a Bigfoot sighting you gotta go out and look fast or he's gone."

Daniel, Evan, Ford and Guthrie look a little mad. Now they're looking at me. Uh-oh. I wonder if they're mad at me.

Then Evan says, "how'd you know we snuck out?" He's talking to Adam, but he's glaring at me.

"That doesn't matter! You snuck out and you got caught! You know I don't care if you go hunting for Bigfoot, just don't do it on a school night!"

"Sorry," they all say.

"I hope you don't have any plans this coming week-end, because you're going to spend it right here, and you _won't_ be hunting for Bigfoot! Now get to bed, and I want all of you up right on time in the morning. None of you are missing school tomorrow, and none of you are going to be late. Understand?"

They all groan and say yes and slowly walk upstairs. I lie back down on the couch and go back to sleep. I'm glad everyone's safe.

* * *

It's crazy in the morning. I think Adam's on a war path. At least that's what Daniel said to Evan when Adam wasn't around. Adam didn't go out this morning to work. He stayed in to make sure everyone got up on time. Hannah knows what happened last night and she made oatmeal for breakfast. _Not_ our favorite. We usually only have that when we need to cut back on money a little bit. There's lots of tired people in this house. We're all crabby too. Everyone's arguing with each other.

Daniel, Evan and Ford leave for their bus earlier than Guthrie and I, and when they leave, the house is quieter. But Guthrie is mad at me and I know we're gonna be arguing the whole way to the bus stop.

When Hannah hands us our lunches she says, "be nice to each other, you two." She's not smiling when she says that either.

Adam looks at us and says, "do you understand now why I _don't_ want you staying up late?"

We both nod and Hannah gives each of us a kiss on the top of our heads and says, "have a nice day."

We grumble and she gives us each a little push out the door.

* * *

"You told on us, didn't you?!" Guthrie yells.

"No I didn't!"

"Then why were you up waiting for us?!" When I don't say anything he says, "see! You told on us!"

"I'm sorry! I was scared! I didn't mean to tell, but I was worried about you guys!"

"You're just a scaredy cat!" He yells.

That makes me mad! "I am not! You take that back! I'm gonna hit you if you don't take it back!" And I mean it! He doesn't say anything, but he's walking quicker, so I run up to catch him and I pull on his arm to turn him around, and when he does he pushes me! Hard! And I fall on the ground. It hurts but I'm pretty tough so I don't cry. He turns around and walks away. He doesn't even say he's sorry! 'That' makes me cry.

"I'm going home and I'm telling on you!" I yell. I get up and start walking home.

"You can't do that Heidi!" He yells, but I don't turn around. I hear him run up to me and he says, "Heidi wait. I'm sorry." I stop walking and look at him. "I'm sorry," he says again. I wipe my eyes and he says, "come on, come with me to the bus stop. I'm really sorry for pushing you and yelling at you. Adam's right, it's not good to stay up all night. Heidi, I'm sorry I called you a scaredy cat too."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you too, Guthrie. And I'm sorry I got scared last night and told on you. I was just really scared you were hurt."

We walk to the bus stop and Guthrie says, "it was so much fun! We really thought we heard him and we were gonna find him!"

"Did you see him?"

"No."

The bus comes and we get on. I find a seat and lean against the window and close my eyes.

* * *

When I get to school lots of kids want to see the stitches in my finger. They saw all the blood yesterday and want to know what happened, so I tell them. When the bell rings we all go to class and Ms. Wilson has us take out our reading books.

I am so tired I fall asleep while my teacher reads from the book. We're all supposed to be following along in our books, but I just can't keep my eyes open. I can't keep my head from nodding down too. Finally I just give up and put my head down on my desk and go to sleep.

I wake up when I hear my name being called. I open my eyes and lift my head up. It takes me a while to realize I'm at school. I groan and put my head back down.

"Heidi, sit up!" Ms. Wilson says.

I groan and say, "I'm too tied. Can't I just rest for a little while."

"No. Sit up and follow along in your book please."

I sit up and she walks to the front of the class. I glare at her as she walks away and then I glare at my book. It's a boring book about a mouse and a motorcycle.

"Heidi, will you please read where we left off."

Is she kidding? I look up at her when she doesn't say anything. "What page are we on?"

"Fifty-four."

I groan and turn the pages, but I take my time. She woke me up and now she expects me to read out loud 'and' know what page we're on?

"We're waiting," she says.

"I know. I'm looking for it." Some of the kids start laughing a little bit, but they quiet down really quickly so I know Ms. Wilson is giving them her mean teacher look.

"Ok, I'm on the page." I start to read and Ms. Wilson interrupts me.

"Second paragraph from the top."

I glare at her and accidentally close my book. Well, maybe it wasn't _really_ on accident. I just feel so frustrated right now. And tired. I open my book, but I don't remember what page we're on, so I ask.

"Why don't you go take your book to the office and finish reading the chapter in there."

"Why?"

Now my teacher is glaring at me. "Because you're not paying attention."

"So you're sending me to the office?"

"Yes. Please take your book and go."

"Is it because I don't know what page we're on? Because I still don't know."

"We are reading chapter three today. You're disrupting the class, take your book to the office and finish reading the chapter in there."

I sigh and get up. As I walk to the front of the classroom I say, "it's gonna be real hard to read in the office. There's a lot of things that go on in there that make it hard to pay attention to reading a book. The phone rings, kids come in, once this...,"

"Heidi, stop talking."

I stop talking, but once I get to the door I have to stop and turn around. "Ms. Wilson?"

She looks at me. "What!"

"What chapter are we on?"

The class laughs and lots of kids shout out, "three!"

"I have another question," I tell her. When she stares at me and doesn't say anything I ask, "are you gonna give us a test on this chapter?"

"Go!" She says.

I smile as I walk to the office.

* * *

When I open the door to the office and go inside, I look around for the principal. Ms. Trent is at her desk and she looks up and smiles at me. I look at Mr. Brick's office. That's weird. The lights are off and the door is closed. His office walls are all windows so it's easy to see in.

"Where's Mr. Brick?"

"He's not here today," Ms. Trent says.

That makes me smile big. "Where is he?"

"He's out sick."

Even better. Maybe he'll be sick tomorrow too. "Who's the principal today?" When you go to a small school like mine, there isn't a vice-principal, there's an _acting_ principal for when the real principal is absent. It's usually one of the teachers.

"Mrs. Powell."

She's the eighth grade teacher. She's kind of nice. Nicer than Mr. Brick that's for sure!

"What are you doing here?" Ms. Trent asks. "Do you have a note from Ms. Wilson?"

"No. She sent me in here to read." I hold up my book.

"Have a seat and start reading."

I sit down at the little table in the office. It has two chairs at it and that's where kids do their work when they get sent to the office. I lay the book down and get up and walk over to the counter. Ms. Trent looks up at me.

"Can I have a tissue please?" I don't need one. It just gives me something to do besides reading.

"Sure." She gets up and brings the box of tissues over to the counter. "How's your finger?" She asks. That was a really bad cut you had yesterday."

I hold it up and say, "two stitches."

"Wow. Make sure you keep that bandage clean."

"I will." I want to keep talking so I don't have to read. "Ms. Trent, do you know how to dance?"

She looks at me and smiles. "Yes. Why are you asking?"

"No reason. Are you a _good_ dancer?"

"I guess so."

"Good enough to win a dance competition?"

Now she looks at me funny. "Heidi, why are you asking me about dancing?"

"I'm just curious. You know my big brother, Crane? He knows how to dance. He's really good at it too. He could win a dance competition."

"Okay."

"Are you going to Whiskerino?"

"What?" She looks surprised.

"You know, the diner dance for grownups in Angels Camp. It's this Saturday. Has anybody asked you to go with them yet?"

"Heidi, I think you need to get back to reading your book."

"It's a really boring book. Are you gonna go? Because you don't have to go with someone. You could go by yourself and meet someone there. That's usually what Brian does. I think Crane might do that this year too. Hey, maybe you could dance with him! He's good at dancing and you said 'you' were good at dancing. Maybe you two could dance together!"

"Heidi, I don't think..,"

"Just think about it," I tell her.

She smiles and points to the table I'm supposed to be sitting at. Then she walks back to her desk.

Pretty soon the door opens and I look over to see who's coming in. It's Guthrie!

"Hi Guthrie!" I wave to him. He doesn't look very happy. He's carrying a book and a piece of paper. He walks to the counter and tells Ms. Trent why he's here.

"Wow, both McFadden kids today," Ms. Trent says with a smile. "Too bad Mr. Brick isn't here to see this."

We laugh a little and she tells us to get to work.

"Why are you in here?" I whisper to Guthrie. He hardly ever gets in trouble.

"I fell asleep in class."

"Me too!"

He starts working on a ditto.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Reading work. I have to do this ditto."

"Can I see it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Heidi, stop bugging me. I need to finish this or I have to stay in at lunch recess and finish it 'and' write a hundred sentences."

"What would the sentences say?" I ask.

"Aren't you supposed to be reading your book?"

"It's boring."

"So you're not gonna read it? What if your teacher gives you a test on it?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"Heidi, you're never gonna learn if you don't do the work." He says that while he works on his reading ditto.

I think about that while I watch him. Maybe I should read my book. I open it up to chapter three and start to read. It takes a little bit of time to remember what happened in the story so far, but once I start reading, the first two chapters come back to me. It doesn't take much time to read the chapter either because it's actually kind of interesting. I 'almost' want to read the next chapter. _Almost_. I get up and walk to the counter.

"I'm finished with the chapter," I tell Ms. Trent.

"Why don't you go back to class and tell your teacher. It's almost time for recess."

"Ok. Don't forget about the dance this Saturday," I say as I smile really big at her.

"Heidi!" Guthrie whispers as loud as he can. "What are you doing? You're supposed to mind your own business!"

"I am. I was just reminding her about Whiskerino." I smile at him and leave the office.

I'm going to take my time going back to class. It's almost recess anyways. I walk to the drinking fountain that's the furthest from my classroom. It's over by the sixth, seventh and eighth grade classrooms. Once I turn the corner I bump right into that mean bully, Gary!

"Watch where you're going, McFadden!" He yells.

"'You' watch where you're going!" I yell back. "You're not supposed to be anywhere near me!"

"_You're_ over by my classroom. "_You_ aren't supposed to be _here_!"

He's got a point. He is supposed to stay away from me, but I'm not really supposed to be using this drinking fountain when there's one by my classroom. "I was just leaving!" I yell at him.

"You'd better!"

I want to push him. I don't know why, I just do. Actually, I do know why. I hate him and he bugs me. "What are you gonna do about it?!" I yell.

He starts to come towards me and I get ready to fight, when Mrs. Powell, the _acting_ principal, comes walking around the corner. "Back to class, you two," she says as she smiles at us. I wish she was the principal all the time. I walk back to my class and go inside just as it's time to go out to recess. I timed that perfectly.

As the kids go outside I walk over to Ms. Wilson's desk, because that's where she's sitting. Denise tells me she'll meet me outside as she walks by me.

"I read chapter three, Ms. Wilson."

She looks at me and I can tell she doesn't believe me.

"I really did! Honest! You can even test me on it!" I tell her about everything that happened in the chapter and she starts to smile. The more I tell her, the bigger her smile gets. "I told you I read it! The book isn't boring anymore! When I found out we were gonna read a book about a mouse and a motorcycle, I thought, that's so stupid! Why do we have to read...,"

"Heidi," she interrupts, "I'm glad you read the chapter, but you need to go out to recess now. I want to make sure you have plenty of time to play."

I shrug my shoulders. "Ok!" She smiles at me as I leave the classroom and meet Denise, and together we go find a group of kids to play tag with.

* * *

What! A math test! No! This can't be happening! "Ms. Wilson!" I raise my hand. "We just had a math test a few days ago!" Kids are groaning and agreeing with me.

"Settle down class. I know we just had a test, and today we're having another one."

I groan and raise my hand. When she calls on me I ask, "are you gonna trick us on this test like you did on the last one?" Some kids laugh.

"I didn't trick you. I just had a few different tests to see if anyone was cheating. I am hoping none of you will cheat on this test."

"Why are you looking at me when you say that?" I ask.

"I'm not looking at you."

"Yes you are, you're looking right at...,"

"Heidi, if you'd like, I can send you to the office and have Mrs. Powell call Adam to come pick you up."

"Why?"

"You're not paying attention today, and you're being disruptive."

"We haven't even done anything yet."

"Heidi," Denise whispers. "Be quiet. You don't want to get sent home."

She's right. I don't really want to get sent home. Especially after what Brian and Adam said about being sent home a lot. I raise my hand.

"Yes?" Ms. Wilson asks.

"Why does Mr. Brick always send me home? Why..,"

"Why don't we talk about that later, Heidi. Right now we're taking a math test."

Everyone groans and our teacher passes out the tests. I sigh and put my head down. Why should I even bother? I'm just gonna get them all wrong anyways. I look out the window for a little while and then I hear my teacher clear her throat. I look at her and she's looking at me so I sit up and look at the test.

I just glance at it at first, but then I start really looking at the problems. I know some of these! These were on my flashcards! The first two problems are easy. The third one I have to think about for a little bit and then I remember it. I know the next one too. This is kind of easy! I think I know all of these! I keep working as kids are getting up and handing their tests to Ms. Wilson. When we take a test she always writes our next math assignment on the board so we can take out our math books and start working on it while everyone finishes the test. I get up to turn in my test.

I knew all the problems! I'm so excited. I walk to my teacher's desk and stand in front of it. She looks at me and holds out her hand. I hold my test against my chest and whisper, "Ms. Wilson, I _knew_ all the answers!"

She smiles at me and keeps her hand held out, but I don't give her my test yet.

I whisper, "I know you like to grade them now while we work at our desks and then give them back to us tomorrow, but could you grade mine now and let me take it home today? Please? I know I got them all right, I just know I did!"

She smiles at me and I hand her my paper. I watch her grade it and so far she hasn't put a check mark by any of them! Then she writes minus zero at the top of my page and the letter G plus.

"I got a G! I got a G!" I am so happy! I can't wait to show Adam! And Hannah and Crane and...everyone! "I didn't even cheat!" I tell my teacher.

"Good. Have you been studying at home?"

I smile and nod my head. "Can I take it home today, please?!"

She smiles at me and says, "yes. Good job Heidi."

She hands me my paper and I look at it the whole way back to my desk. I got a G! Not an N or an S minus, a G! A G _plus_! I show Denise when I sit down at my desk and she smiles at me. I can't stop staring at my paper until Ms. Wilson reminds me to get my math book out and work on the assignment.

* * *

I stare out the window as I ride the bus home. I can't believe what a good day I had! I did all my work and I didn't get sent back to the office at anytime for the rest of the day. I take my math test out of my red homework folder and look at it. I'm so happy!

When the bus gets to our stop I wait for Guthrie to get off. When he doesn't get off, our bus driver turns around and calls out his name. I hear one of his friends say he went home earlier today. I shrug my shoulders and wave to the bus driver and start walking the short walk to our driveway. I guess Guthrie went home sick. I decide to run because I can't wait to show someone my test.

* * *

"Crane! Crane!" I yell as I come running up to the house. He's on his way to the house too. He turns around and smiles at me.

"What?"

"Look! I got a G plus!" I hold out my test and he takes it.

"Good job Heidi! High-five!" I jump up to try to high-five him. He always holds his hand up way too high, so I have to keep jumping until he finally lowers it for me. It's a little game we always play. We laugh and after I high-five him he swings me around and then swings me up to him to carry me inside. But once I'm in the house, I get down and run into the kitchen.

"Hannah, guess what?!" I run in and Hannah is sitting at the table with Guthrie. They look over at me and I stop. "Whoa! What happened?!" Guthrie has a fat lip and he's holding ice on his cheek just below his eye.

"I got in a fight," he says sadly.

"You got sent home?" I ask.

He nods his head. "And suspended."

"Who'd you fight?"

"Kenny."

"Kenny?! But he's your friend!"

"Not anymore!"

Hannah says, "hey, that's enough Guthrie. Why don't you hold the ice on your lip now."

I remember my test so I show it to Hannah. "Look! I got a G plus! On a test!"

She takes my test and says, "that's great Heidi!" She smiles at me.

"I even read my reading book today. And you know what?! The book is actually interesting!"

Hannah and Crane laugh. "Sounds like you had a good day at school," Hannah says.

"I did!" I take a cookie off the cookie plate and take a bite. "Where's Adam?"

"He's out with the herd," Crane says.

I grab my test and run out of the kitchen.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Crane yells after me.

"To do my chores!" I yell as I run out the door.

* * *

I put my test in a safe spot while I do my chores, and when I'm finished I grab it and run over to the fence and climb up it to sit and wait for Adam.

After what seems like forever I finally see him and Brian riding their horses over to the barn. When they get here I jump down and run over to where they're taking their saddles off their horses.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what!" I yell when I reach them.

"What?"

"Look at my math test!" I hold it up for Adam to take. While he's looking at it I yell, "I didn't cheat or anything! I knew the answers!"

Adam smiles and says, "good job Heidi."

I grab my test and take it to Brian. "See!" I yell as I hold it up for him.

"Good!"

Then I climb up some hay bales to talk to them while they take their saddles off and brush down the horses.

"I didn't get sent home today! I only got sent to the office once! Guthrie was there too, we both fell asleep during reading. I read my book while I was in there. I didn't pretend or anything! And you know what? I _liked_ the book!" I pause for a minute to catch my breath.

They smile and Brian says, "good for you, Heidi."

"Wait, there's more! I didn't beat Gary up today! I was gonna, but I then thought about what you said about getting sent home all the time and I didn't punch him!"

Adam stops what he's doing and looks at me. "I thought he was supposed to stay away from you and stay on the upper grade's area?"

"He did, I was on his side. I had to get a drink, but I didn't punch him!"

"That's good," Adam says. "But I want you to stay away from his side of the school."

"Ok, I will." I look at my test again. "I got a G plus! That's the highest grade you can get!"

Adam walks over to me and stands right in front of me. He looks into my eyes and smiles. We're at eye level since I'm standing on hay bales.

"I'm really proud of you, Heidi," he says.

I smile and throw my arms around his neck and he holds me.

"Thanks for making me do my flashcards," I say. "That helped me a lot."

"Good. I'm glad. That's what they're supposed to do. Help you learn."

"I'm sorry I made such a big fuss over doing them."

"Ok. Just remember how good you feel about your test right now, so when it's time to work on your flashcards again, you don't fuss."

"Ok."

He carries me back to the house and I tell him and Brian all about the rest of my day at school and how Mr. Brick was absent. They listen and are happy that I had such a good day.

* * *

When we walk through the front door, Adam puts me down and Guthrie walks up to me really fast and pushes me back outside.

"Hey, it's almost dinner time," Adam tells us. "Don't go anywhere."

"We're just gonna be out on the porch for a little bit," Guthrie tells him.

Once we're on the porch and he closes the front door I ask, "what are you doing?"

"They're mad at you."

"Who's mad at me?"

"Daniel, Evan and Ford."

"Why? Because I told on them?"

"Yep. They're mad at me too."

"Why?"

"Because I told you what we were doing and asked you to go too."

"Oh. But don't they know I only told because I was worried about them?"

"They don't care right now. Hannah told them they were babysitting us this Saturday and they started complaining."

"But they were grounded anyway."

"They still don't care. They're really mad and grumpy. Hannah told them to quit complaining and do their chores and then get their homework done, or she was gonna make them take a nap!"

I laugh. "She said that?"

"Yep, and she wasn't smiling or anything when she said it. She told them if they didn't believe her to just try her and see what happens."

"What'd they do?"

"They grumbled and did what she told them to do. Evan is the maddest because he got a week of detention for falling asleep in class."

"But that's not my fault! He would've fallen asleep even if I didn't tell."

"He doesn't care right now. They're all really mad at both of us. Hannah told me they're just really tired and that's why they're mad. Daniel was gonna go out with Alison this Saturday. It's the first weekend his band hasn't had to play and he was looking forward to doing something with her. Evan and Ford had plans with Becky and Cleo."

"Oh."

I walk over to the porch steps and sit down on the top step. Guthrie sits next to me. I've got to think of something to do to make them not mad at us anymore. "Guthrie, we need to come up with a plan."

"For what?"

"For making them stop being mad at us. I don't like it when they're mad at me." We sit quietly and think.

"We could do their chores for them," Guthrie suggests.

"No, it has to better than that."

We think some more. "We could let them sneak out instead of babysitting us. That way they can see can see Alison, Becky and Cleo."

"I don't think they'd want to sneak out. That's why they're in trouble in the first place."

"Right," Guthrie says. "Adam will tell them they can't go anywhere."

That makes me think of something. "But I bet Adam won't tell them they can't have friends over."

"You know part of being grounded is not having friends over."

"But if he doesn't specifically say it, we can do it! Right?"

"I don't know. I don't think they're gonna want to do that."

"They don't have to. We could invite them over."

"I don't know about that. How are we gonna invite them over?"

"You could pretend to be them when you call the girls and invite them over."

"I don't know."

Evan comes walking over to the house and when he gets to the porch steps I say, "guess what Evan, I got a G plus on my math test!"

He ignores us and walks right by us and into the house.

"See, we have to do it. We have to invite their girlfriends over!" I tell him.

"I guess you're right." He says, but he doesn't sound too sure about it. Then he says, "yeah, it could be like a party! We could have a party!"

"A secret party! Then they won't be mad at us!"

Crane calls us in for dinner and we smile at each other before we get up and go into the house.


	10. Chapter 10

During dinner everyone seems to be tired and grumpy. Everyone's fighting and arguing with each other. Adam and Hannah are arguing the loudest now and Guthrie and I look at each other. I think he looks a little scared which is exactly how I feel.

"Look Adam, when I came here this house was filthy! Is that how your mom kept the house when you were growing up? Piles of dirty dishes in the sink, dirty laundry laying all over the floor, not even knowing where the broom was?"

"Nobody asked you to start cleaning!"

"Somebody had to! These kids were living in filth!" Everyone's looking at Hannah now. "The house was a mess, the kids were a mess, they drank beer when they turned fourteen and all the cussing they did was horrendous!"

"What does that mean?" I ask. She ignores me, but Crane leans over and whispers, "it means it was bad." Hannah continues.

"Are you telling me, while growing up your mom and dad cussed, let you drink beer at a young age, and didn't keep up with the house work? Because that's exactly how you guys were living! Like a bunch of hooligans!" That's Hannah's favorite word to describe us when she's mad.

Adam yells, "hooligans?!

"Yes! I think your mom and dad would've been ashamed at the way you were living!"

Everyone's quiet and looking at Adam now. I wonder what he's going to say to that. 'Would' they have been ashamed?

"You don't know _anything_ about our mom and dad!" Adam yells.

"How could I?! You never talked about them! I didn't know anything about _you_ either before we got married! I thought I did, but you sure tricked me! Would your parents have approved of us eloping? We got married with none of your, _close-knit_ siblings with the _good family values_, at the wedding! I had no clue you even lived with your brothers and sister _and_ I didn't even know your parents were dead! Would your mom and dad have approved of that?!"

Whoa! She's really mad!

"You said yes to the man," Brian says quietly. Then Hannah turns on him.

"So Brian, did your dad teach you how to treat a woman? Did he tell you to be gentle and kind to her? Or did he tell you to treat her like a horse?! Remember that song you and Crane and I think Daniel were singing to Ford about how he should treat Cleo like a horse? Did your dad teach you that song, or would he be appalled to hear you sing that? Would he have approved of your lifestyle choices?"

"Hey!" Brian yells.

"What?!" Hannah yells back at him. "What kind of example are you setting for your brothers and sister? The kind of example your dad would've set? Heidi is so confused!"

"Just because Heidi thinks something, doesn't mean it's true!" Then Brian looks at me. "I told you to mind your own business! Remember our little trip to Reno? I said it then and I'm saying it now, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! You don't know anything about the _type_ of girls I like, and I don't need to discuss it with you!" That makes me cry. He did say that.

"Speaking of Heidi, is this how your parents would've raised her?! She gets sent home from school A LOT! She cuts herself with a knife ON PURPOSE! Gets in fights all the time! Runs away and does whatever she wants to with little, or no consequences! Would your parents let her act like that?! Like _this_?!" Hannah yells.

"Hey, Hannah! You're going way too far now!" Adam yells.

I'm having a hard time following and understanding everything she's talking about.

"Am I?! _Am_ I?!" She yells.

"Yes! You are!"

Crane says calmly, "do you guys want to go talk somewhere else?"

"No!" They both yell at the same time.

"Do you want _us_ to leave?" He asks.

"No! I want to hear what she says next!" Evan says and we all agree. I think Adam and Hannah are in their own little world right now. It's almost like they don't even know we're here.

"We're leaving guys," Crane says. "Let's give them some privacy."

All of us get up to leave and I look at Adam and Hannah before I go into the living room. They look mad. I wonder why they've been fighting so much lately. Something's wrong. Hannah _never_ gets mad like this.

* * *

We all sit in the living room while Hannah and Adam continue yelling at each other. I climb onto Crane's lap and look around the room. Everyone looks sad and no one's looking at each other or saying anything.

"Crane? Why are they fighting?" I ask.

"I don't know," he says. "This isn't like them."

"I guess the honeymoon's over," Brian says.

"Knock it off Brian," Crane tells him. "This is different."

We're all quiet again and we can hear everything they're saying.

"Hannah, I'm trying my best! I'm not perfect! Life isn't like a tv show where there's always a happy ending. Mom and dad tried to instill good family values into all of us, but we were just too young. We still had a lot of learning to do in that department. Nothing could have ever prepared us for when they died. Nothing! We kept the family together and did our best. No, mom and dad would 'not' have approved of the way we were living before you came. They never allowed us to cuss at home and mom always kept the house clean. We were a very happy family. They loved us a great deal and I tried to take over as best as I could, but that's hard for a teenage adult to do. To be thrown into a world where you're getting ready to go off to college and start a life of your own, and something tragic happens and turns your world upside down. Brian and I did the best we could to keep this family together! 'That's' what mom and dad would've wanted, and it was a challenge and we did the best we could! No, we weren't perfect in how we raised these kids, but we love each other and we're 'always' here for each other and I think mom and dad would've been proud about that!"

"Adam," Hannah's voice is softer now, "I ...,"

"No! Do you know hard this has been! I had eighteen years with mom and dad, and they tried as best they could to instill good family values in me. But how much can you really teach a teenager?! Sure, they were a great example for me, but what kid learns these lessons before they've been an adult and had to learn from their own mistakes?! I had to grow up fast! So did Brian! The rest of these guys had even less time with mom and dad than us! Heck, Guthrie and Heidi didn't even 'know' them! We did the best we could do to keep this family together! The state had a home picked out for Guthrie and Heidi to live in with a couple in Stockton! The state was trying to find a home for Ford, Evan and Daniel, but it was hard to find a placement for three! Then that left Crane!"

I look up at Crane. "Is that true? We're Guthrie and I going to be taken away?"

Crane moves me off his lap and stands up. He takes my hand and says, "Guthrie, come with me." The three of us go out the front door to sit on the porch. We sit on the top stair together with Crane in the middle and he puts his arms around us and holds us close to him. We're both crying.

Guthrie asks, "what's happening?"

"Are they gonna get a divorce?" I ask. "Do they still love each other?"

"Yes they do, and no, they're not getting a divorce."

"Then why are they acting like this? Did mom and dad fight like this?" Guthrie asks.

Crane doesn't get a chance to answer because the front door flies open and Adam comes storming out with Hannah yelling after him.

"Did your talk to your mom the way you talk to me sometimes? Yelling at me like I'm Heidi, or Guthrie?"

Adam turns around and yells, "what are you even talking about?!"

"You yelled at me to stay away from the horse that wasn't broken in. You yelled at me just like I was Guthrie, or Heidi! You don't let me help you with the cattle, and when I've tried to help you've yelled that I didn't belong there!" Adam scoots by us on his way down the steps. He's walking fast and Hannah keeps yelling at him. "The way you talk to me sometimes is unbelievable! Is that how your dad treated your mom?!"

Brian comes running out of the house now and he's putting his jacket on as he runs to catch up with Adam. "Adam wait!" He yells.

"Brian, leave me alone!"

"No, big brother! I'm not letting you drive 'anywhere' in this condition!" Then he yells really loud, "'that's' what mom and dad would've wanted! I'm looking out for you big brother!"

I look back at Hannah and she's crying. She goes back inside and doesn't even close the door. I can see in from where I'm sitting and I know she went upstairs, and pretty soon I hear a door slam.

Shortly after Adam and Brian leave, Crane takes us inside and tells Guthrie and I to get ready for bed. It's still early and I know both of us want to complain about that, but somehow we know this isn't the night to do that. When I'm ready for bed, Crane comes to tuck me in.

"When's Adam coming home?" I ask as he sits down on my bed.

"I don't know."

"Has Hannah come out yet?"

"No."

"Do you think they're fighting because Adam didn't get enough sleep last night?"

"No. I'm not sure why they're fighting."

"Crane, would mom and dad like how we were raised?"

"I think they would be very happy that we all stayed together. That was important to them."

"But what about everything else Hannah said?"

"Well, there are some things they might not have been so happy about."

"Like what? Like how we act like hooligans?"

Crane laughs and says, "I don't think hooligans is the right word. Instead of thinking about what mom and dad wouldn't have liked, let's think about what they would've liked. Why don't you tell me something good about our family."

I think for a while and he says, "come on! You've got to think 'something' is good about our family! It shouldn't take you 'that' long to think of something!" He smiles at me and I smile back.

"I know we love each other. I know all of my brothers love me and I love all of you. I know even when we fight we still love each other. Would mom and dad have liked us fighting? Sometimes you guys really go at it with each other."

"No parent likes it when their kids fight. If they were still alive, we still would've fought with each other, and we still would've made up afterwards. Heidi, no family is perfect. As much as we'd like to believe our family is that perfect, loving, family you see on TV shows, we're not. 'But', mom and dad would be very proud about how we act 'after' we fight with each other, or if we did something else that wasn't so loving to each other. We make up. We say we're sorry. We still love each other. And when we mess up outside this family, we're still there for each other and we have each other's backs. 'That's' what mom and dad taught us, that's what they instilled in us, and they would be mighty proud of us for that." He lifts my chin up. "Because you know what Heidi? Some families aren't like that. Some families drift apart when problems happen."

"But not us!" I tell him. "We stick together!"

"You're darn right we do! Now, let's get you to bed! Story, or song?"

"Story. Tell me a story about mom and dad. A happy story. One where they didn't fight."

"You got it!"

I listen to Crane tell me a funny story about mom and dad and how much they loved each other. It makes me feel happy and 'almost' makes me forget about Adam and Hannah fighting. When he kisses me goodnight I ask him if he'll sing me a song too, and he says he will.

"Heidi, we always sing lullabies to you that mom sang to us when we were younger. This time I'm going to sing a song that mom and dad used to sing to each other. We loved it when they sang it and you could see how much they loved each other when they stared in each others eyes while singing it."

He sings the song and it's beautiful. Crane gets tears in his eyes while he's singing, but he's smiling so I think they're happy tears. Soon I close my eyes and fall asleep listening to a song that says how much my parents loved each other.

Since I went to bed early last night, I wake up this morning on my own. I get up and get dressed and walk down the hallway to the bathroom. Adam and Hannah's bedroom door is open so I look in. No one's in there. The bed is made too. I use the bathroom and then go downstairs.

When I walk into the kitchen Brian is the only one in here. "Where's Hannah?" I ask.

"Marie's."

"This early?"

"Yes."

"Where's Adam?"

"Outside. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Pancakes."

I help Brian make breakfast and then he tells me to go make sure my brothers are up for school. I don't need to because when I go in the living room they're all coming down the stairs. We all sit at the table to eat breakfast and everyone's quiet. Finally Daniel says something.

"What time did you and Adam get home last night?"

"Late." That's all Brian says and everyone's quiet again.

I can't stand it! "Did Adam and Hannah make up?" I ask.

"I doubt it," Brian says. "I don't think they saw each other, let alone 'talk' to each other before Hannah left the house this morning."

"Does that mean we're not babysit this Saturday?" Evan asks.

"I doubt it," Brian says.

"What?! They 'have' to go to the dance this Saturday! They love each other, don't they?"

"Sure they do," Daniel says. "But sometimes when you fight, plans change."

"Well, we have to make sure they make up! They have to go out on a date! They never get to do that! I'm gonna make sure they make up before the dance!"

"No you're not!" Brian tells me. "You're gonna mind your own business! I mean it!"

I glare at him and eat my breakfast, but my mind starts thinking of a plan. Geez! I've got to think of this plan, my other plan for Ford, Evan and Daniel, and I think I should still make a plan for Crane. I'm going to be busy! I'm sure Guthrie will help me though.

"I don't know Heidi," Guthrie says, "it seems like we'll just get in trouble if we make all these plans. Remember, Brian 'just' told you to mind your own business. And Hannah, Adam and Crane have told you the same thing. How come you never listen to them?"

That makes me mad. "Fine! I'll do it all by myself!" I walk faster.

"Wait." He sighs. "I'll help you."

"You will?" I ask happily.

"Yes."

"Thank you!"

"Ok, what's your plan so far?"

"I've only thought about Daniel, Evan and Ford. I think we should call their girlfriends and pretend to be them while we invite Cleo, Allison, and Becky to come over on Saturday night."

"You're not allowed to use the phone Heidi."

"I know, that's why 'you're' going to call them."

Guthrie groans. "And how are we going to invite them without them talking to Daniel, Evan and Ford about it?"

"Secretly!"

"I know, but what does that mean? How are 'the girls' gonna keep it a secret?"

I didn't think about that. Hmm. "We could pretend there was a party and mail them an invitation."

"No, that's a dumb idea! That's what you do for a little kid's party!"

"Then 'you' think of an idea!"

We're quiet while we wait for the bus, and then I think of the perfect plan!

"I got it! We'll call, I mean 'you'll' call, and be yourself and tell them it's a surprise party!"

Guthrie doesn't say anything for a minute. Then he says, "you mean a surprise party for Daniel, Evan and Ford?"

"Yeah!"

"That just might work! But it's not their birthdays. What's the surprise party for?"

"It could just be because we want to surprise them. Do you think they'll believe that?"

"Probably," he says. The bus comes and before we get on Guthrie says, "we'll call them tonight."

I'm so happy! Ok, one plan down, two to go!

When the morning bell rings, Denise and I walk to my classroom together.

"Was your family happy about your math test?" She asks.

"Yes! And you know what else?! I can't wait to read the next chapter in our reading book!"

"Me too!"

We walk into the classroom and immediately my happy mood changes into a bad mood. We have a substitute today! The one I don't like. Ms. Smith, and she doesn't like me either. I'm gonna have to be really good if I don't want to get sent home today.

So far the day has gone pretty good. I didn't even have to stay in at recess! It's lunchtime now and when Denise and I are finished eating I ask her to go to the office with me.

"Why?"

"To talk to Ms. Trent."

"Ok."

Mr. Brick is absent today too. Ms. Trent is sitting at her desk eating her lunch.

"Hello girls," she says. "What do you need?"

"We just came to see if you want any company while you eat your lunch."

She smiles at us. "That was nice of you, but you really should be outside getting some exercise before class starts."

"Did anyone ask you out to the Whiskerino Dinner Dance yet?"

"No."

"Ok. That's all I wanted to know!" I take Denise's hand and pull her out of the office and out to the playground and run right into Gary!

"Watch where you're going!" He yells as he pushes Denise.

"Sorry," Denise says as she falls down.

"Why'd you do that?!" I yell and I push him to the ground. I sit on top of his stomach and he tries to push me off.

"Let me up!" He yells.

"No! Not until you tell me why you always pick on girls!"

"Let go!" He tries his hardest to get up but I'm stronger because I'm on top of him. My brothers taught me how to wrestle good.

"No! Why do you always pick on me?!" I pinch his ear and pull at it. "Tell me!"

"Ow! Let go!"

"Heidi, get up!" Denise yells. "A teacher's coming!"

"I don't care!" I pinch his ear harder. "Tell me why!"

"Because!"

"Because why?!"

"Ow that hurts!" He yells.

"Why?!"

"Because my dad and my brothers hate girls!" He yells.

I let go of his ear and get up. Ms. Powell, the 'acting' principal is with us now and she doesn't look happy. "To the office! Now!" She yells and points towards the office. "All three of you!"

We all walk to the office and I hold Denise's hand because she's crying a little bit. She's not used to being sent to the office. "It'll be ok. You didn't do anything," I whisper. "You're just the witness."

We walk into the office and sit on the bench. Ms. Powell stands in front of us and leans against the counter. She folds her arms across her chest and stares at us. Then she looks at Gary and says, "what happened?"

"Wait," I say. "Aren't you gonna ask us separately? Mr. Brick always asks us in his office, one person at a time."

"No, I don't have a key to his office, Heidi." She knows my name because this is a small school and the teachers know all the families that go here. She looks back at Gary.

"Now tell me what happened."

Gary tells his version, which has me pushing him first. Denise says Gary pushed her first and I say the same thing.

"And 'why' were you on top of him?"

"To make him stop."

I don't think she believes me. She sends Denise back to class and then walks behind the counter and over to Ms. Trent's desk. She's gonna call home and I feel sad.

"Why does your family hate girls?" I ask Gary.

"Leave me alone!" We're talking quietly. Not whispering, but quiet enough that Ms. Powell and Ms. Trent can't hear us.

"No! You're always picking on me and I want to know why! Doesn't your mom get mad at you and tell you not to hurt girls?!"

"I don't have a mom! She ran off with some man and left us! My dad says girls are mean and my brothers think so too! They say it's ok to pick on girls! Especially you!" He yells that loudly and shoves me. Ms. Powell comes running over and tells each of us to move to the ends of the bench.

"And no talking!"

We each scoot far away from each other and watch her call one of our homes. After a while she comes back over.

"Gary, we're not getting an answer at your house. Does your dad have a work number?"

"No. You have to call my older brother."

"No, I'm afraid I need to talk to a parent," she says.

"You can't! You have to call my older brother! He's an adult!"

"No, I need to call your dad."

"He's in jail!" Gary yells. "Call my brother!"

Whoa! His dad's in jail? I wonder what happened. Ms. Powell dials the number Gary gives her. She talks to someone and then walks back over to us.

"Gary, your brother is coming to get you. Heidi, Crane is coming to get you. I am telling Mr. Brick everything that happened, and when he comes back I'm sure he'll want to talk to you and your brothers too." Then she turns to Ms. Trent. "I'll leave them with you. If there are any problems, buzz my room and I'll be right down." And then she leaves.

Gary's brother is the first one to get to school. He looks mad when he walks in. I think he's Crane's age. Ms. Trent stands up and walks over to the counter.

"I'm here to pick Gary up," he says meanly.

"Yes. Sign here." Ms. Trent gives him a paper to sign.

He signs it and then looks over at me and Gary. "Is that brat picking on you again?" He asks when he sees me.

"Yeah!" Gary says. "She's a pain in the a..,"

Ms. Trent interrupts him. "You may not use that language here."

"No problem," Gary's brother says. "Come on Gary you can swear all you want to once we get outta here." Gary gets up and follows his brother out the office door and we hear his brother say, "let's get away from these d**n b*****s!"

I look at Ms. Trent and her eyes are wide as she watches the door close. Then she looks at me and says, "I'm sorry you had to hear that Heidi. Some people don't have any manners."

I just look at her as she walks back to her desk. Then I get up and walk over to the counter. "You know who has good manners? My brother Crane." Her cheeks turn pink and she smiles.

"I'm sure he does." She looks back at the work on her desk.

"Ms. Trent, when is Crane gonna get here? I've been waiting soooo loooong. Are you sure you called him?"

She looks up at me and smiles. "Yes, Heidi, I called him and he said he'd be right down. You've only been waiting thirty minutes."

"Well, that's almost an hour." I pick up a pen that's laying on the counter and start tapping it on the counter while Ms. Trent gets back to work. After about a minute she asks me to stop.

"Sorry." I put the pen down. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Sure."

I leave and as I walk to the bathroom I think about Hannah. Will she be mad at Adam that I got sent home? I hope not.

When I come back from the bathroom Crane is in the office talking to Ms. Trent. There both standing at the counter on opposite sides from each other talking and laughing. They both look happy.

"Hi!" I say to Crane. "Whatcha guys talking about?" I smile really big.

"Oh nothing," Crane says. "Just talking about where I'm going to take Ms. Trent on our date tomorrow night." He smiles at me and I jump up and down and clap my hands.

"You're going out on a date?! I'm so happy!"

"I thought you'd be," he says. "I signed you out so let's get going." Then he looks at Ms. Trent and says, "goodbye Ms. Trent, I'll pick you up at six."

"Call me Isabella," she says and they both smile at each other. Crane is walking out of the office backward so I open the door and take his hand to pull him out. As soon as the door closes I ask questions.

"Where are you going to take her? The movies? Angels Camp? Sonora? I think you should take her out some place fancy like..,"

"Hold on munchkin!" He says as he swings me up to him. "You're asking too many questions!" He sets me down and we walk out to the jeep. "Besides, we need to talk about why you got sent home."

On the drive home I tell him about Gary and what he said about his family.

"That makes a little sense as to 'why' he keeps picking on you, but it's still no excuse! Some people have no manners!"

"That's what Ms. Tr...Isabella, said. You should of heard what Gary's brother called us. He said da*n bit***s!"

"Heidi! Don't talk like that!"

"What? That's what he said!"

"I don't want you repeating that. Ok?"

"Ok." I look out the window and smile. I can't believe Crane and Isabella are going on a date! Now I just need a plan to get Adam and Hannah together.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what?!" I yell as I jump out of the jeep and run up to Adam and Brian. They're close to the house.

"What?"

"Crane asked Isabella out!"

"That's nice," Adam says, "but I want to know why you're home from school."

"Because I got sent home."

I don't think he liked that answer because now he's glaring at me and he folds his arms across his chest. "Sent home for what?"

"Fighting," I say quietly.

"Fighting?! Again?! Haven't we talked about this enough?!"

"It's not what you think!"

"Then tell me what happened!"

I tell him about Gary pushing Denise and me shoving Gary and sitting on top of him.

"Our baby sis' knows how to take care of herself and protect her friends," Brian says.

"Brian! That's not helping right now!" Adam yells. It's better he's yelling at him, than me. Crane tells him the whole story and the three of them talk about Gary and his brother. I think they forget I'm here because some of the things they're saying aren't very nice. Especially what's coming out of Brian's mouth. He wants to teach the older brother a lesson, but Adam tells him not to. "That's not going to help the situation," he says. Then he looks down at me.

"What did I tell you?!" He yells. "What did I tell you to do instead of fighting?!"

I stare up at him. Heck if I know.

"Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about! Think! What did I tell you?!"

"Umm, not tooooo?"

"Think again! I'm not joking around here!"

"I am thinking! And obviously I forgot what you told me to do, or I would've done it!" By the look on his face, I think it's time to run. I look around for the best way around all three of them.

"Don't you dare run from me!"

How does he know what I'm thinking?

"We can see it in your eyes," Brian tells me. I guess he knows what I'm thinking too.

"I told you exactly what to do instead of fighting!" Adam yells. "Go sit on the porch steps and think!"

"What?! Why?! For how long?!"

"Go!"

I walk slowly away from them and over to the steps while they talk. I can't hear them now, so I don't know what they're talking about. I find a stick and bring it with me to the steps. It's the perfect stick to dig with so I start digging a hole.

"Put that stick down!" I hear Adam yell at me.

"Why?"

"Because I want you to think! Not play!"

"But that's how I think!"

"Put it down! Now!"

Jeez. I set it down and look for something else to play with. I don't see anything. I look at the tiny hole I started with the stick. I guess I could dig the hole with my foot since I made a nice start with the stick. That's what I decide to do.

I know I'm supposed to think about what Adam told me to do instead of fight, but I'd rather think about something else. I wonder if Hannah's home. I wonder if her and Adam made up. I wonder why they were fighting. They were so mad at each other.

"I hope you're thinking over there!" Adam yells.

"I am!" I yell back. That's true, I am thinking. I smile at the hole I'm digging.

"About what you're 'supposed' to be thinking about! I'm coming over there in five minutes and you'd better have an answer!" Then he adds, "the 'right' answer!"

I groan and stop digging. I pull my knees up and hug them to my chest. Then I rest my chin on them. Think. What did he tell me to do instead of fight? When he walks over I put my feet back down on the ground and look up at him. He stops in front of me and looks down at me. He's so tall. I bet he's the tallest man on the planet! "I don't remember what you told me to do. I really don't." I cry and he sits down next to me.

"I told you to get away and run to a teacher and tell."

"Oh yeah! You said run to the office! Or find a yard duty teacher!"

"Right." He sighs. "I wish you would listen to me when I talk to you."

"I do."

"Then I wish you would remember what I say."

"Sorry I forgot." We're quiet for a little bit and then I say, "is Hannah gonna be mad at you because I got sent home?"

"Don't worry about Hannah."

"Are you guys still fighting? What were you fighting about?"

"I don't want to talk about that. Heidi, I don't like you fighting. I don't like 'any' of you fighting."

"Would mom and dad like us to fight?"

"No! Definitely not! That doesn't mean we didn't fight though, and get sent home from school. They especially wouldn't have wanted you to fight."

"Why not me?" I think. "Because I'm a girl?!"

"Yep!"

"But girls can fight too!"

"I know. 'Some' girls can. Dad wouldn't have liked you knowing how to fight. Well, that's not true. He would want you to be able to protect yourself, but not use fighting to solve your problems."

"Is that what you think too?"

"Yes. I know it's hard for you because you're the only girl in a house full of boys, but I'd prefer you not to fight."

I kick at the hole I was making in the ground. "It's because I'm a girl!"

"No. I don't like any of you guys to fight."

"But 'you' fight sometimes. Brian fights 'all' the time!"

"I know we fight too, but that doesn't mean we should. I tell that to your brothers too, not just you."

"You do?"

"Yep. I told it to Guthrie just yesterday when we were talking about him getting sent home getting sent home for fighting."

"Why'd he fight Kenny?"

"Kenny said he was out at home plate while their class was playing baseball for PE. Guthrie thought otherwise."

"But Kenny's his friend. Why would he do that. Guthrie doesn't usually fight."

"I think it's because he was tired from staying up all night. Another reason why I don't want you up late on a school night."

"Adam, are you going to make up with Hannah?"

"Heidi, I told you, I don't want to talk to you about that."

"But aren't you 'fighting' with her? You're just using words instead of punches. You didn't punch her, did you?"

"No! Heidi, look at me!" He pulls me up so I'm standing in front of him. "I would 'never' punch Hannah! Ever!"

"Good, 'cause I think she'd punch you back."

I think he's thinking about that. Then he says with a little smile, "I think you're right. Mom would've really liked Hannah."

"What about dad?"

"Yep, he would too. Probably because Hannah is so much like mom. She's really brought a lot of joy to our family. Just like mom always did. I think she opened my eyes to a lot of things about the way we were living before I married her."

"Then you should tell her that! Tell her all the things you like about her, no, tell her all the things you 'love' about her. Then you'll be happy again!"

Adam smiles at me and says, "for a 'little' kid you sure can be smart sometimes."

"Hey! I'm not little!" I put my hands on my hips and glare at him.

He laughs and says, "come here 'little' girl!" As he grabs me and gives me a big hug right there on the steps. I hug him back and we stay like that for a while. Then he says, "mom and dad would've loved you so much." He rubs my back a little and then holds me out in front of him again. "No more fighting. What are you supposed to do instead?"

"Run away to an adult and tell them."

"Right. I'm expecting you to do that next time. Do you hear me?"

I nod my head and say, "yes."

"Good. Now let's go help your brothers. We've got a lot of hay bales to move around."

I groan. I hate it when we have to do that because sometimes hay pokes really hard. I don't even want to know why we have to move it. I wish I was back at school. I walk with Adam and then I remember something. "Guess what Adam?!"

"What?"

"We had a sub today and I didn't get in trouble at all with her! It was Ms. Smith too!"

"Good for you! That must've taken a lot of hard work!"

"It did! But I did it! There were so many times I wanted to...," I stop talking because he looks down at me. "Never mind," I say. "I didn't get in trouble in my classroom at all today!"

When we come inside after moving all those hay bales around everyone is home from school. They're in the kitchen eating cookies. Cookies out of a bag, not homemade ones like Hannah bakes.

"Where's Hannah?" I ask as I get a glass down. I'm really thirsty.

Guthrie looks at me and shakes his head.

"What?"

He just keeps shaking his head. Then Daniel says quietly, "Adam? Hannah just called. She's going to stay and work the dinner shift tonight."

We all look at Adam and his face starts to look mad. "Dang that girl!" He yells and kicks one of the table legs. Not hard, but still a kick. "She should be home!"

"Adam, I think she's helping out Marie," Crane says. "A lot of people are sick right now. There's something going around."

"I had a sub today, 'and' the principal was still out today too," I say.

"I had 'three' substitutes today!" Evan says.

"I don't care!" Adam yells. "Her place is here! At home with the family!"

"Adam," Crane says quietly, "don't you think you're being a little too hard on her?"

Crane shouldn't have said that because Adam got mad at 'him'!

"You think I'm being too hard on her?! You don't know anything about it!"

"Ok, I'm sorry. Why don't you sit down and we'll plan what to have for dinner."

"No! I've got work to do!" Adam yells and goes out the back door slamming it behind him.

"Adam wait!" Crane yells after him, and he goes out the back door too.

The rest of look at each other and then Guthrie starts to cry which makes me cry. Brian pulls me onto his lap and hugs me. "They'll work it out," he says, but I don't believe him. I've never seen Hannah and Adam mad at each other like this before. I'm scared. I wonder what they're fighting about.


	11. Chapter 11

"Stop crying," Brian says.

"I can't stop!" I cry. "I'm too sad." All I can think about is Adam and Hannah fighting.

Brian groans and hugs me closer to him and says, "come on kid, they're going to be ok. Guthrie, you stop crying too."

"But why are they fighting?" He asks.

"I don't know," Brian says. "I've never been married before."

Evan, Ford, Daniel and Guthrie are sitting around the kitchen table with Brian and I. Adam just stormed out the back door and Crane followed him.

"I wonder why Hannah said all those mean things last night," Evan says.

"I know. I've never heard her that mad," Ford says.

Then Brian says, "she sure said some mean things."

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, some of them were true," Daniel says.

My brothers are quiet while they think about that. Crane comes in through the back door and sits down with us.

"He's lost it," he says. "He saddled up Betsy and said he was gonna go work on the north fence."

"But he can't do that all by himself!" Brian says.

"He told me to leave him alone, and he means it. I haven't seen him this mad in a long time."

"That's what I just said about Hannah," Ford says. "What do you think is going on with them?"

"Who knows!" Evan says.

I wipe my eyes and ask, "can we eat dinner at Marie's tonight? Then at least we'd be with Hannah. I bet she's sad."

"Yeah, can we?" Guthrie asks.

"No!" All my brothers say together.

"Why not?" Guthrie asks.

"I don't think either one of them wants us to get involved with this," Crane says. "I think we need to mind our own business."

"It's a little too late for that," Brian says. "The way they were yelling in front of us last night was hard to ignore. In fact, I think I'm a little bit mad at Hannah too!"

"That's because she yelled at _you_," Guthrie says.

"Maybe she's mad because you guys keep getting in trouble at school!" Brian says.

"Brian, you know that's not true," Crane says.

"I didn't get in trouble at school," Ford says.

"You never do," Evan says.

"But you did, Evan."

"So did Heidi."

"And Guthrie."

My brothers keep talking about why they think Hannah is mad and it makes me think. Did she get mad because I cut myself? Is she mad at Adam because I touched a pocket knife after he told me not too? What if she's mad because I cheated on my math test. I slide off Brian's lap and stand next to him instead. He doesn't seem to notice because all my brothers are too busy arguing.

I wish I knew what was wrong between Adam and Hannah, because if it's me, I want to tell them I'm sorry and that I won't get in trouble anymore. I don't want them to get a divorce because I'm bad. Since I can't ask Hannah right now, the only other person to ask is Adam. I quietly leave the kitchen without being noticed and walk through the living room to the front door. I'll go find Adam.

* * *

I get Lucy saddled up and mount her. There's still a couple hours until dinnertime so I have all afternoon to go look for Adam. I know he's somewhere around the north fence line so I lead Lucy in that direction. It shouldn't be that hard to find him. I just gotta head north and I'll run into him.

Our pasture has a big flat area near the barn and house, but the rest of our ranch has small hills on it. My brothers call them rolling hills. So Adam could be behind a hill or over a hill depending on how you look at it. He could be behind a big oak tree. We have lots of those on our ranch. Well, I guess he wouldn't be behind one of those. It's not like he's playing hide-and-go-seek. I ride for a long time until I reach the north fence. I don't see Adam anywhere in this area, so now which way do I go? Do I follow along the fence line to the left side, or the right? I look both ways and try to think which side of the fence might be broken. I guess I'll go to the left.

I ride forever! I must've been riding for hours, and I still haven't found him! Well, I guess it can't have been hours because it would be dark out and it's not. "Lucy, where is he?!"

I hear a "yah!" and then a whistle. I look behind me and Adam is riding up.

"What are you doing out here?" He asks when he's close enough.

"I'm looking for you! Where have you been?!"

"Where's Guthrie?" He looks around and then says, "you didn't come out here by yourself, did you?!"

I look around me.

"Heidi, did you tell anyone where you were going?!" I'm not supposed to go this far without asking.

I don't answer.

"So no one knows you're out here?!"

I don't answer for a while and then I say, "_you_ know."

He glares at me for a little bit and then stops and sighs. "Heidi, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to talk to you."

"About what?" Then he says, "Heidi, if this is about me and Hannah, I don't want to talk about it."

"But, I do."

"Too bad, I'm not going to talk about this with you. You need to get back to the house. Your brothers will be worried about you.

"No, I can't."

"Yes you can. Go back to the house."

"No! I need to know!"

"You need to know what?! You don't need to know anything!"

"Yes I do! I'm not going back to the house until you talk to me!" I start to cry because he's not understanding me.

"Get back to the house, now! I'm not talking to you or anyone else!"

I cry harder. "But I need to know! Is Hannah mad because I've been bad?"

He looks at me like he doesn't understand.

"Are you fighting because I got in trouble at school? Is it because I cut myself?"

Adam leads his horse closer to Lucy and says, "no Heidi. Is that what you think?"

I nod my head. "Yes. Are you going to get a divorce because I've been bad? Please don't get a divorce! Please!" He gets of his horse and ties her to the fence, then he does the same with Lucy. "I promise I'll be good! I promise!" He reaches up and takes me off Lucy so he can hug me and I cry on his shoulder.

"Heidi, is that what you think?" He asks as he hugs me and kisses the top of my head. "We're not fighting because you've been bad. Don't even think that. We're not getting a divorce either. Heidi, I'm sorry you're hurt over this. We didn't want that to happen. This isn't because of you."

"But Hannah said mean things to you last night about me."

"I'm sorry Heidi. We shouldn't have been fighting like that in front of you. I'm so sorry you had to hear all that. Sometimes when grown-ups get mad they say things they don't mean. They say things that hurt the other person."

"But why would you do that to each other? Don't you love her anymore?"

"I love her a lot, Heidi. I love her a lot." Adam sets me down.

"But why was she mad at you because I got in trouble at school?"

Adam sighs and says, "Heidi, there's a lot you don't understand about grown-ups."

"Then tell me."

He takes my hand and we start walking along the fence line. "Heidi, sometimes we fight. It's kind of like how you fight with your brothers. Sometimes you get mad at each other and say things or do things to hurt the other person. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes. Yesterday Guthrie pushed me because he was grumpy." I let go of Adam's hand and pick up a long, thin stick laying on the ground and drag it along the fence as we walk. "Sometimes I say mean things to Guthrie."

"But you still love him, right?"

"Yes."

"Even though your words hurt him and he pushed you?"

"Yes."

"It's like that with grown-ups too."

"So you still love each other?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you still mad at each other? Why don't you just make up?"

"It's more complicated than that."

"Why?"

"It just is. We haven't really gotten to see each other lately, let alone talk to each other."

Hmm. Maybe I can fix that.

"Let's go back to the house and see what your brothers are making for dinner."

"Ok." We turn around and I skip back to Lucy and throw my stick on the ground. Adam helps me get up on Lucy and then he unties the horses and gets on Betsy and we ride back.

* * *

Dinner is good. Brian makes his famous spaghetti. I love Hannah's cooking, but sometimes I miss Brian's cooking. He likes to put his secret ingredient in everything he cooks. It's not much of a secret though. It's hot sauce.

It's weird with Hannah not here. Everyone is still talking about their day, but at our end of the table Guthrie and I are quiet. I miss Hannah.

"When's Hannah coming home?" I ask. No one hears me so I ask again, only this time louder. "When's Hannah coming home?!"

Now everyone's staring at me.

"Probably after eight o'clock."

"That's forever! Why can't she just come home now? She's been gone all day!"

"She's helping Marie," Cane says.

"Well, she should be home with us! She should be home making our dinner and baking cookies for us! She wasn't even home to make breakfast for us this morning! Doesn't she love us?"

Everyone's quiet until Crane says, "is that how you see Hannah? That she's some kind of maid that cooks and cleans for us all the time?"

Everyone else is still quiet. "But that's what she does at Marie's! Why can't she do that at home?"

"At least she gets paid at Marie's," Daniel says.

Adam looks tired now and he rubs his forehead with his hand. Then he shakes his head. "I'm so stupid!" He says.

"What?" Brian asks.

"Never mind," Adam says.

"We're kind of taking advantage of Hannah, aren't we?" Crane asks.

"What do you mean?" I ask. I don't understand.

"He means," Ford says, "we're expecting Hannah to do all the work around here."

"But she's supposed to," Guthrie says. "She's the woman."

Lots of my brothers groan when Guthrie says that.

"I think we've all been stupid," Crane says. "Not just you Adam."

"No, I said some pretty horrible things to her the other day. We've been fighting for the past few days. Last night's big fight was just the last straw."

"She was right about some of the things she said last night," Crane says. "You do talk to her like she's a child sometimes, Adam. When the Harts' brought their horse over last month for Evan to break in, you got mad at her for going near him. You yelled at her. You yelled at her just like you yelled at Guthrie and Heidi to stay away from him."

"I know and I apologized to her."

"But you keep talking to her like that. You won't let her work with hardly any of the animals. You won't even let her help with the cattle."

"That's because I don't want her to get hurt!"

"But she's not a child," Crane says. "You can't keep yelling at her like she's one."

"Yeah, you do yell at her like she's a child sometimes, big brother," Brian says and he pats Adam on the back.

Adam yells. "There's lots of bad things that can happen on a ranch! You guys know that! I don't want to lose her! I don't know what I'd do without her!"

I speak up then. "If Hannah were here right now she would say, "I'd prefer that you don't find out."

Everyone laughs a little.

"I think we all need to be more kind to Hannah and not just see her as the cook or the maid," Crane says.

"Especially me," Adam says. "I can't believe I was so stupid. Mom would be really disappointed in me right now."

"Why? What'd you say?" I ask.

"Something I shouldn't have."

"She did say some mean things to us and about us," Brian reminds us.

"She did do that," Crane says.

"I think it's hard for her to understand what we've been through," Adam says. "It's hard for anyone to understand unless they've lived through it."

"We did the best we could," Brian says. "It may not have been perfect, but it worked for us."

Crane says, "what eighteen year old is prepared to raise a twelve year old, six, seven and eight year old, and throw in a two year old and a baby? Some guys are parents when they're teenagers, but how many have _six_ little kids to raise at the young age of eighteen? I'd say you did a pretty good job."

"Yeah _dad_," Evan and Daniel tease.

Brian and Daniel are sitting on either side of Adam and they pat him on the back.

"You and Brian got a chance to know mom and dad really well. I only did a little bit," Crane says, and Daniel, Evan and Ford even less. It's a shame Guthrie and Heidi didn't get to know him at all. But ten years have gone by and look at how well all of us turned out."

We all look around the table at each other and start to smile.

"Mom and dad would've been proud of you," Brian says to Adam.

"You too," Adam says.

Then the teasing begins. "I don't know if they'd be so proud of Brian and his quick temper." There's laughing.

"Or Daniel and Evan getting in fights at school."

"What about Heidi and her quick temper. She's a little firecracker!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Adam yells. "None of us are perfect and they would've been proud of each of us."

We talk more about that and have a good time for the rest of dinner. All of us stay in the kitchen to help clean up and then Crane and Brian leave to go into town. I run into the living room to see what time it is. Only seven-thirty. Hannah won't be home for a long time.

* * *

After Guthrie finishes his homework and I work on my flashcards with Adam, we go upstairs to call Cleo, Becky and Allison.

"Remember, just be yourself," I remind Guthrie. "We just want to invite them to a surprise party."

"Ok." We have the phone book and Guthrie looks up Cleo's number. Then he dials.

"Hello?" He says into the phone. "Can I talk to Cleo please?" He's quiet and then he says, "Guthrie McFadden." Guthrie listens and says, "ok, thank you. No, no, she doesn't have to call me back." Guthrie shakes his head even though the person on the phone can't see him. Our eyes look at each other and they're big. She'd better not call back! "Ok, bye," Guthrie says.

When he hangs up the phone I say, "well?"

"She wasn't home."

"Where is she?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" He looks up Allison's number next. He dials and waits for someone to answer.

"Hello, is Allison home?" Guthrie sighs and says, "ok, thank you. Goodbye."

"What? She's not home either?"

"No. She's at a friend's house."

"Well, I guess that just leaves Becky."

Guthrie dials and waits. "Hello, is Becky home?" He sounds sad when he asks that, but then he sits up straighter and smiles really big and says, "hi Becky!"

I smile too.

"This is Guthrie McFadden, Evan's brother." Guthrie listens and says, "no, he doesn't want to talk to you." I glare at Guthrie and hit his arm. "I mean, I'm calling to invite you to his surprise party. We're throwing him a surprise party." Guthrie listens again and says, "no, it's not his birthday. My sister Heidi and I want to cheer him up."

"Ask her if she'll tell Cleo and Allison," I whisper.

"Sh! No not you Becky. I know he's still grounded, but that just means he can't go out. You can still come over." He listens. "Yes, I'm sure. But it's a _surprise_ party so you can't tell Evan anything about it."

I remind Guthrie again to ask about Cleo and Allison.

"Um, Becky? It's also a surprise party for Ford and Daniel, so I was wondering if you could invite Cleo and Allison." He listens. "You can?! Great!" Then he covers the receiver with his hand and whispers, "what time?"

I shrug my shoulders.

Guthrie shrugs his and says into the phone, "eight o'clock?" He looks at me and smiles and puts his thumb up. "Ok, eight o'clock, this Saturday. Remember, it's a _surprise_ party. Make sure you invite Cleo and Allison." He listens and then says, "ok bye!" He hangs up the phone and we both jump up and say, "we did it!"

"Did what?" Ford asks as he walks into the bedroom. He puts a book away and picks up a math book and looks at us.

"Nothing," we say and Guthrie carries the phone back out to the hallway. When Ford leaves to go back downstairs we smile at each other.

"This is so much fun!" Guthrie whispers.

"I know!"

But then Guthrie says, "you'd better make sure Adam and Hannah go out this Saturday, or we're gonna be in trouble."

My smile fades. He's right. I got Crane and Isabella together, now Ford, Evan and Daniel have dates again, even if they are just at the house, but that still leaves Adam and Hannah. I have to figure something out.

* * *

When Hannah finally comes home at eight-thirty she looks very tired as she sets her purse down and takes her shoes off. I run up to her and give her a hug. "You're home!"

She smiles and says, "yes, and I'm exhausted! I'm taking a nice hot bath and then I'm getting into bed."

"But I haven't seen you all day!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. Heidi, I ...," she stops talking to me when she looks over towards the kitchen. I look and see Adam standing there. "Heidi, I've got to get off my feet. I'm going to go take that bath now." She starts walking upstairs and I yell, "you just got home! Come sit on the couch if your feet hurt! Hannah!" She's not listening to me. She goes into her bedroom and shuts the door.

"Leave her alone, Heidi," Adam says from behind me.

I look at him and say, "but I miss her! How come she doesn't want to see me?"

"I don't think it's _you_ that she doesn't want to see," he says and he walks upstairs taking two steps at a time. When he tries to open the bedroom door, it's locked. He knocks quietly and says quietly, "Hannah it's me. Can I come in?"

It takes a while, but she finally opens the door. After he closes it I quietly walk upstairs and sit in front of it and lean my ear against it to listens.

"Adam, I really don't feel like talking now," I hear Hannah say.

"I know, I'm sorry Hannah. I've been such a jerk!"

"Adam, I'm exhausted! I just want to take a bath and go to bed. I've got to get up early tomorrow and be at Marie's to open up."

"What?! Now you're _opening_ the restaurant for her?!"

"She's sick Adam! I'm helping her out! I don't want to talk about this now!"

"Well when _do_ you want to talk?! You're never here anymore! Now you're going to be gone again tomorrow?! Are you working all day _and_ night too?!"

"Adam stop!"

"No! Your place is here! At home! We need you _here_!"

"Adam! I don't want to have this conversation now! You're being pigheaded!" The door opens suddenly and I fall into their bedroom. Hannah is wearing her robe now and she steps over me and goes into the bathroom and slams the door shut.

Adam steps over me and yells after her, "_I'm_ being pigheaded?! You..," Adam starts to yell something but stops when he looks down and sees me sitting up and staring at him. I'm about ready to cry. He looks back at the bathroom and shakes his head. I hear him whisper, "dang that girl!" As he reaches down and picks me up.

"Adam, why are you guys fighting _now_?"

"Not now Heidi. I don't want to talk now," he says as he carries me downstairs. "You need to get ready for bed."

"But Hannah's in the bathroom now."

"I know. We're gonna sit down here on the couch and wait for her to come out." And that's what we do.

Daniel comes out from the kitchen. "You guys still fighting?"

Adam doesn't answer so I nod my head.

"Do you want some time alone with her?" Daniel asks. "I can put Heidi to bed if you want."

"No, I want Adam to!" I hug him really tight.

"Thanks Daniel, but Hannah's not in the mood to talk tonight." Adam sounds tired and Daniel walks back into the kitchen to work on his homework.

"Adam, I don't want Hannah to work at Marie's anymore either," I say in his ear.

"You heard that?"

"Yes. I agree with you. She doesn't need to be going away to work when she can stay here and work!"

"No Heidi, that's not what this is about."

"It's not? I thought you wanted her to stay home so she could work here?"

"I do. I mean, no that came out wrong. Heidi, times are changing. Things are different now. It's the eighties now. Women are wanting to work outside the home now. They don't want to stay home and take care of the house and kids."

"Hannah doesn't have any kids," I remind him.

"I know. But she's got you and your brothers to look after."

"I guess she doesn't want to. She doesn't love us."

"Hannah loves you."

"Not enough to stay home."

Adam sighs.

I'm getting angry now. "I'm mad at Hannah! She doesn't want to take care of us and the house! She wants to stay away from us! _I_ don't love _her_ anymore!"

"Heidi, stop. Don't say things like that," he says quietly. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do!" I cry.

"Sh," Adam says as he hugs me tighter and gently rocks me. Now I feel bad for saying I hate Hannah.

"Adam, I don't like you guys fighting!"

"I know."

We sit on the couch like this for a long time until Hannah finally comes out of the bathroom. She doesn't even look downstairs. She just goes back into her bedroom and shuts the door.

"Go get ready for bed." Adam tells me, then he yells towards the kitchen, "Guthrie, bedtime." I get off Adam's lap and he says, "I'll be up in a minute." I nod my head and go upstairs.

* * *

After Adam tucks me in and leaves, I hear him knock on his bedroom door.

"Hannah? Hannah, can I come in?" I hear him ask quietly. I guess she doesn't hear him because he asks her two more times. Finally I hear the door open and close.

I get out of bed and look downstairs. Guthrie's already in bed and Evan, Ford and Daniel are still doing homework in the kitchen so I walk down the hallway and sit in front of their door again, pressing my ear to it.

"I'm really tired Adam," Hannah says. "Can you please just let me go to sleep."

"Not until you listen to me," he says. There's silence for a while and Adam says, "I'm sorry Hannah. I don't want to fight with you. I'm sorry for being so pigheaded. It's just, when we have kids I always envisioned you staying home with them."

"Oh Adam! I never said I didn't want to stay home with our babies when we have them! I want to stay home when we have babies! I've always wanted to stay home and take care of our kids!"

"But you've got Heidi and Guthrie now. What about them?"

"They're in school," Hannah says.

"So when our kids go to school you're going to go back to work?"

I think he's starting to get mad. I can hear it in his voice.

"Adam, I don't know what I'll want to do when our kids are older. I'm not..,"

Adam interrupts her and yells, "you don't know what _you_ want to do when our kids are older?" I'll tell you what _you're_ going to do when our kids are older. You're gonna stay home and raise them!"

"Adam you're misunderstanding me right now and I'm really tired. I want to talk about this with you, just not right now!"

"Fine! Why don't _you_ just let me know when _you're_ ready to talk about this!"

I hear footsteps coming closer to the door, but I don't have time to move because they're coming too fast. I fall into their bedroom when Adam opens the door.

"Dang it Heidi! Get back in bed!"

I pick myself up and run into my bedroom and jump back in bed. I can hear Adam walking downstairs and the front door opens and then slams shut.

I am so excited! I know why Adam and Hannah are fighting! I have to tell my brothers! I run into the boys' room and see if Guthrie's still awake. He has his flashlight on and he's reading a book.

"Guthrie! Come down to the kitchen with me! I have something really important to tell you!"

"What is it? How come you're not in bed?"

"I heard Adam and Hannah talking and I know a secret!"

"What?" Guthrie asks.

"Come down to the kitchen with me! We have to be quiet when we walk past Hannah's bedroom because she's sleeping."

"Where's Adam?" Guthrie asks as he gets out of bed.

"Sh, he's outside. Come on."

We walk out into the hallway and downstairs as quietly as we can. Then I run into the kitchen and explode.

"I know why Adam and Hannah are fighting! They're having a baby! Hannah's pregnant!"

"What?!" They all yell.

"It's true! I overheard them talking. Hannah's pregnant and they've been fighting because Hannah wants to keep working and Adam doesn't want her to! He wants her to stay home and raise the baby! Hannah's pregnant!"

All my brothers are staring at me. Ford's mouth is opened and Daniel says, "are you sure? You heard them say they're having a baby?"

"Yes! But they don't know I know. It must be a secret since they're not telling us. Aren't you excited! Hannah's having a baby!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Wow! Hannah's having a baby!" Guthrie says.

"I know, isn't that exciting!"

"Are you sure Heidi?" Evan asks.

"I swear, I heard them say it! Adam told Hannah he wants her to stay home with the baby and not work anymore."

"Wow," Ford says. "I'm gonna be an uncle!"

"I'm gonna be an aunt!" I yell.

We're all excited about the baby. I start to think about how I can give Adam and Hannah some time to talk to each other. If she leaves early in the morning, they won't be able to talk then. Maybe they can talk after dinner. No, she'll probably be too tired after dinner. I get an idea.

"Daniel? Do you think we could all eat dinner out somewhere tomorrow so Adam and Hannah can stay home alone to talk?" I ask.

My brothers look at me and I can tell they're thinking. "Yeah, I'll ask Crane and Brian when they come home tonight."

"Maybe we could go to Sonora and have pizza!" Guthrie says.

"Yeah!" I yell. "But Crane can't go because he's taking Isabella out tomorrow."

"I'll talk to Brian about it then," Daniel says.

"Ms. Trent and Crane are going out?" Ford asks.

"Yep!" I say while smiling. "He's gonna take her somewhere special."

"I wish I was taking Cleo someplace special this Saturday. I was really looking forward to going out with her," Ford says.

"I know. I haven't had a weekend off in a long time from the band. I was looking forward to going out with Allison," Daniel says.

I feel bad since I'm the one that got them grounded. "Sorry I got you guys in trouble," I say quietly.

"We shouldn't have snuck out," Ford says. "Adam probably would have found out anyway."

"I guess we don't have to babysit you guys this Saturday night," Daniel says. "Unless Adam and Hannah make up."

"We have to let them have some privacy tomorrow night by letting them have the house to themselves," Evan says. "I can't believe Hannah's pregnant!"

"Do you think Crane and Brian know?" Ford asks.

"No," Evan says. "Brian was kind of mad at Hannah. I don't think he would've been mad if he knew she was pregnant."

"We should tell them," Daniel says. "Brian might not be so hard on her if he knew what was going on."

I hear the front door open and Guthrie says, "we can tell them now!" He runs to the living room and then stops and runs back in here. "It's Adam!" He whispers. "We're supposed to be in bed!"

I think about hiding under the table but I'm not fast enough.

"What are you doing up?" He asks when he sees us.

Guthrie and I both stare at him and don't answer.

"Get back in bed," he says.

We rush by him and Guthrie says, "goodnight _dad_." And everyone laughs.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Nothing _dad_," Daniel says and they laugh some more.

"Finish your homework," Adam says as he walks back into the living room. I watch him from the stairs and he lays down on the couch and covers his face with his hat.

"What are you doing?" I ask him.

"Go to bed," he says without lifting his hat.

"Are you going to sleep there?" He doesn't answer. "Adam? Are you sleeping on the couch tonight?"

"Go to bed, Heidi!" He yells, so I do. But it's hard to go to sleep because all I can think about is babies.

* * *

I wake up early in the morning because I hear yelling. The sun isn't all the way up yet and I look at my clock. 5:00. Adam and Hannah are fighting again.

"Adam, all I said was I wanted to pick up a few extra shifts at the restaurant. That's it."

"That's what you said when you went back to work! This was supposed to be temporary! Remember?!" Adam yells. "You were working to make a little extra money for Christmas! Christmas is over and you're still working!"

"We need the money, Adam. I feel like I'm finally able to contribute something to the family."

"You do contribute!"

"How?! By cooking and cleaning?! I want to do more! And lord knows why you won't let me help with the ranch work!"

"We talked about that!"

"No! You mean, you yelled about that!"

I get out of bed and go to their room. The door is open and Hannah is sitting on the bed putting her shoes on. When she sees me she says, "sorry Heidi. Did we wake you?"

I nod my head. Adam sighs and sits down in the chair by his dresser. He rubs his forehead with his hand and he looks really tired. Hannah gets up to get her purse and says to Adam, "I need to leave now. I'm opening the restaurant."

"When are you coming home?" He asks.

"I'm not sure. Hopefully before dinner."

That seems to make Adam angry. "I should hope you'd be home before dinner!"

"Adam, I'm just trying to help out Marie. I'll be home as soon as I can."

She starts to leave but I say, "wait!" They both look at me. "Aren't you gonna kiss each other goodbye?"

They look at each other and Hannah walks over to Adam and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That's not a kiss!" I yell.

Hannah doesn't care, and I guess Adam doesn't either because he doesn't even get up from his chair to say goodbye. Hannah gives me a kiss on the top of my head and says, "have a good day Heidi." Then she walks downstairs and out the door.

I walk over to Adam to give him a hug and he puts me on his lap.

"How come you don't want Hannah to work?" I ask.

He's quiet for a while and then says, "I don't know. Why don't you go back to bed. You don't have to be up for at least another hour."

I get off his lap and ask, "are you going to be ok? You look really sad now."

"I'm fine," he says as he stands up.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he says tiredly. "Go back to bed. I've got work to do."

I go back to my bedroom and try to go back to sleep, but I can't. I'm just too excited! Hannah's pregnant, and tonight Crane has a date with Ms. Trent. Maybe they'll have a baby too!

* * *

Brian is making breakfast when I go downstairs. Everyone except for Adam is in the kitchen. They're talking about the baby.

"I still can't believe he didn't tell us," Crane says.

"I wonder why they're keeping it a secret?" Daniel says.

"Probably because Hannah still wants to work."

"What's wrong with her wanting to work?" I ask. "Will it hurt the baby?"

"She really should take it easy when she's pregnant," Crane says.

"But what about after she has the baby? How come Adam doesn't want her to work then?"

"He wants her to stay home and take care of the baby," Daniel says.

"That's why Meredith and I split up. Well, that and the fact that she was going to graduate school all the way on the other side of the country," Crane says. "She wanted to be a lawyer first and a mom second."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "Why can't she be both at the same time?"

"You just can't," Crane says.

"I don't understand why not. Seems pretty easy to me. Just tell the dad to take care of the baby and the house," I tell them. They think that's really funny.

"It doesn't work that way at all!" Brian says.

Guthrie laughs, "the _dad_ stay home and take care of a baby?! That's hilarious!"

"What's wrong with that?!" I yell.

"A baby needs a mom!" Evan says.

"Hey! I didn't have a mom! Adam and you guys were the dad AND the mom!" They're all quiet now. "Adam did it with me, why can't he do it with his own baby!"

"I guess it just comes down to what you and your wife want to do," Brian says.

"For me, I want my wife to stay home and be a mom," Crane says.

"Hannah told Adam she _wants_ to stay home with the baby," I tell them. "He's just mad because she won't stay home now _and_ she said she might want to work when the baby is old enough to go to school."

"Mom stayed home with all of us," Brian says.

"No she didn't," I remind him. "How do you know she wouldn't have gone to work when I started to school?"

"She wouldn't" Brian says and that's the end of that conversation. Daniel, Evan and Ford get up from the table and put their dishes in the sink.

"Here you go, _mom_!" Daniel says as he pats Brian on the back. All three of them laugh and run out of the kitchen as Brian tries to snap them with the dish towel he's holding.

"That's not funny!" He yells after them.

"When I have a baby, I'm taking her to work with me," I say. "I'll teach her all about rodeos."

Guthrie laughs. "You can't do that with a baby!"

"Just you watch! My baby's gonna go to work with me and hang out on the rodeo circuit!"

"Nobody on the rodeo circuit is gonna let you do that!" Guthrie says.

"They'll let _me_ do it because I won't give them a choice! It's _my_ baby and if I want to take her to work with me, I'm gonna do it!"

Crane laughs and says, "I'm sure you will Heidi."

Brian says, "finish up, you gotta get out to the bus soon."

"Brian, did Daniel tell you about our plan to give Adam and Hannah some privacy tonight?" I ask.

"Yes. I can't take you guys out, but Daniel can. You're going to Mountain Mikes pizza in Sonora."

"Yes!" Guthrie says.

"Why can't you go? You have to go somewhere so Adam and Hannah can have some privacy," I say.

"Don't worry, I'll be gone."

"Where are you going? Do you have a date?" I tease.

"Never mind what I'm doing tonight," he says.

"Are you going out with a giiiirl?" I ask and smile really big.

Brian walks over and takes my plate.

"Hey! I'm not done!"

"Yes you are. It's time to go." He carries my plate to the sink and picks up mine and Guthrie's lunches and hands them to us. "Have a good day," he says.

"Thanks _mom_!" Guthrie says.

"Get outta here," Brian says as he gives Guthrie a little push.

"Hey!" Guthrie yells. "Hannah always gives us a kiss before we leave!" He teases.

"Ok, get over here then," Brian says.

"No way! You aren't kissing me!" Guthrie laughs and runs out of the kitchen.

I look up at Brian and smile. "You can kiss me."

He glares down at me, but I can see a little smile as he reaches down and picks me up fast. He lifts me as high as he can and holds me up there until I'm laughing too hard and telling him to put me down. He brings me down so he can give me a kiss and then sets me down. "Be good at school!" He yells after me as I run to catch up with Guthrie.

"I'll try my best!" I yell.

* * *

I really did try my best, but Mr. Brick is back and when he wants to talk about what happened with Gary yesterday, things don't go so well. I never should've gone in the office before school to begin with, but I wanted to talk to Ms. Trent.

"Hi Ms. Treeeeeeent," I say when I come in. I smile at her really big.

She smiles back and says, "good morning Heidi."

I walk up to the counter and talk to her over at her desk. "Are you looking forward to your date tonight?"

"Yes."

Ms. Trent, do you like kids?"

"Yes."

"How about babies?"

"Yes. Why are you asking?"

"No reason really. Well, except I was talking to Crane this morning and he wants babies. Probably right away."

She laughs a little.

"He also wants his wife to stay home with the babies and take care of them. And the house too, of course. He doesn't want his wife to work. She's supposed to stay home with the babies."

Her smile fades and she says, "why don't you go out to recess now."

"Ok. Have fun on your date tonight. I told Crane to take you someplace nice."

She smiles again and says, "thank you."

I walk to the door to go outside and Mr. Brick opens it and walks inside. He looks at me and says, "good morning Heidi. I heard about yesterday. I'm going to be talking to you some time today. In fact, why don't we talk now."

"I was just going outside to play."

"That's ok, we can still talk now."

"But school hasn't started yet. It's like I'm not here yet."

"Sit on the bench and wait for me," he says.

"Why? Why do I have to wait. Why can't I go play and come back when the bell rings?"

"Sit."

I put my hands on my hips and glare at him. "School hasn't started yet. You're not the principal right now."

Mr. Brick looks mad and his face starts to turn red. The bell rings and he yells, "I am now! Sit down and wait for me! And just so you know, I'm the principal ALL the time!"

"Even when you're at home?" I ask.

He ignores me and walks over to Ms. Trent's desk. She hands him a bunch of little pink papers. "Here's all your messages while you were out."

"Thank you." He takes them from her and looks through them. Then he walks over to his office and goes inside and and shuts his door. I watch him through his window/walls and he picks up the phone and dials. Oh great! I hope he's not gonna make a bunch of phone calls before he talks to me. I want to go to my classroom. It's reading time and I want to read the next chapter in our book. I watch him and when he hangs up the phone he looks at another message and picks the phone back up. I groan and wait. After a while I get up and walk over to the counter.

"Ms. Trent, do you think I could go to my classroom and get my reading book?"

"I guess I could ask Mr. Brick if you can."

"He's on the phone," I tell her. "Can't _you_ just let me go? Pleeeease?"

"No Heidi."

I sit back down on the bench. When I see Mr. Brick hang up the phone I go knock on his door. When he opens it I say, "can I go get my reading book?"

"No." He starts to close his door.

"Wait!" When he stops and looks at me I say, "can we talk now then? I really want to go to my classroom. I don't want to miss reading the next chapter in our book."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Sit down on the bench."

"Why won't you let me read? I'm just sitting here doing nothing!" I yell that as he shuts his door. "This isn't fair! You're not being fair!"

He opens his door and yells, "sit down on that bench and keep your mouth shut! I don't want to hear another word out of you!"

"Ok, but I don't know how you expect me to tell you about yesterday if you won't let me talk!"

"You just lost your next recess. You can come sit in here in the office for it."

"I wish you were still sick!"

"Either you sit down now, or you go home. What's it gonna be?"

I glare at him, but think about that. Adam's already mad at Hannah. I don't want him to be mad at me too. Besides, school just started. I don't think I've ever been sent home this early before. I decide to sit back down and he goes back into his office and shuts the door.

* * *

"I already told Ms. Powell what happened. Why do I have to tell you too?" I ask Mr. Brick. I'm finally in his office after having sat on the bench forever.

"Don't make this difficult. Just explain what happened."

I start to tell him about running into Gary yesterday, but his phone rings and he answers it. He says "I'll be right there." Then he stands up. "I'll be right back."

I sigh. So far I've done nothing at school today. I look at Mr. Brick's desk. Maybe there's something interesting on it. It's a big mess! I guess I could straighten it up a little bit.

I pick up the pens that are laying around and put them in his pen cup. Then I straighten up his papers so they're in a nice neat pile. I jump when the phone rings. I look over at Ms. Trent's desk, but she's not there. I wonder where she is. I guess I could answer the phone. I pick it up and say hello.

"Is this Mr. Brick's office?" A lady's voice asks.

"Yes."

"Who is this?" She asks. "It sounds like I'm talking to a student."

"This is Heidi. I'm the only one in the office right now. Mr. Brick should be back soon, and I don't know where Ms. Trent is. I know how to take a message. Do you want me to?"

"Yes. This is Mrs. Trout, the school board president."

"Who?"

"Mrs. Trout."

I pick up a red pen and find a paper to write on. I don't see any blank paper so I just grab the first paper I see. It has lots of writing on it, but I don't see anything else. "Ok, how do you spell that?"

She spells her name and tells me her phone number so I write it down.

"Make sure Mr. Brick calls me right away. It's very important."

"Ok." I hang up the phone and look at the paper I wrote the message on. Now that I can look at it more carefully, I see a bunch of numbers on it. I wrote over some of them. At the top of the paper it says 'Budget for Board Meeting'. I put the pen down and look over at Ms. Trent's desk. She's back so I go out to talk to her.

"Where were you?" I ask.

She looks over at me and points to the nurse's office. "In there."

"Didn't you hear the phone ring?"

"Yes. I was holding a heavy box and I had to set it down, but when the phone only rang twice I figured they hung up. Why?"

I stare at her. I don't think I should tell her I answered the phone. Luckily I don't have to because Mr. Brick walks back in. I run back in his office and sit down in the chair in front of his desk.

He walks in and shuts his door and sits down at his desk. "Where were we?" He asks.

I stare at him. Please don't look down at your desk. "Um, I was telling you about yesterday."

"Right." He looks down at his desk and keeps looking. He looks all around it and then he sees the note I wrote on the paper. He's reading it. "What is this?"

I just stare at him and shrug my shoulders. He doesn't know I wrote it. He picks up his phone and dials three numbers. "Ms. Trent, would you come in here please?"

Uh-oh. I watch her get up from her desk and walk over to us. She opens the door and walks in. "Yes?"

Mr. Brick hands the paper to her and says, "what do you know about this?"

She looks at my writing and then looks at him. "I don't know. I've never seen this."

"That's what I thought." Now he looks at me. "What is this?" He asks as he holds the paper up.

"A message," I say quietly.

"Did you answer the phone?!" He yells at me.

I nod my head slowly and he looks at Ms. Trent.

"I'm sorry sir," she says. "I was in the nurse's office when the phone rang. It only rang twice so I thought they hung up. I didn't know Heidi answered it."

"Thank you, you may go."

Now he looks at me and he looks mad. "This was a very important paper!"

"Sorry. That lady wants you to call her back right away. She says it's really important."

"I don't ever want you to answer the phone again. Do you understand me?!"

I nod my head and he picks up the phone.

"Who are you calling? You're not sending me home, are you?!" I cry.

"No," he says as he dials. "I'm calling home to let Adam know how badly you've behaved this morning."

"Don't you think you should wait for the rest of the day to go by in case you have to call again?" Maybe that will stop him. It doesn't so I groan. He keeps waiting for someone to answer the phone, but when no one does, he hangs up.

"They're fixing a fence today. They probably won't be home until dinnertime," I tell him. "Hannah's working at Marie's right now. You can call her. She'll tell Adam. She always tells on me."

"I think I'll do that." He picks up the phone book and says, "you can go back to class."

"I can? Thank you!" I jump up and run out of his office. Ms. Trent looks up at me and I stop at the counter and look at her. "I'm sorry I answered the phone."

She smiles and says, "just make sure you don't do it again."

I smile back and leave the office. I hope I didn't miss all of reading time.

* * *

At lunchtime I tell Denise that Hannah is pregnant. She's excited but when I tell her about their fighting she says, "sorry. I hate it when my parents fight."

"Your parents fight?"

"Yeah."

"Are they getting a divorce?"

"What?! No! Why would they get a divorce?"

"Amy said when her parents started fighting they ended up getting a divorce."

"Heidi, just because parents fight doesn't mean they're going to get a divorce."

"How am I supposed to know that? Adam hasn't been married that long and they've never fought like this before. We're gonna give them some privacy tonight and hopefully they can make up."

"You know what my dad does when he wants to make up with my mom? He comes home from work early and brings her flowers. Then he kicks her out of the kitchen and makes her favorite dinner and they eat it by candlelight in the kitchen."

"What about you?"

"My dad makes me a TV dinner and they let me eat it in the living room and watch tv."

"Lucky! I've always wanted to eat a TV dinner!"

"When my parents go out and I have a babysitter, sometimes they let me have TV dinners."

I think about that for a minute and then think about Adam and Hannah. "Hey! I should go pick some flowers for Adam to give to Hannah!"

"Yeah, I'll help you!"

We quickly finish our lunch and run out to the playground. Across the field is a hill that has poppies all over it right now. We run over to it and start picking. Once we both have a handful we run back to the playground and try to figure out what to do with them while we play.

"Let's put them by our classroom door and go play," I tell her. We run to it and lay them down by the door and start to run back to the playground. We don't get far before I have to stop and turn around because I hear, "hey! McFadden!"

It's Gary! I look at him and he's by our classroom smiling at me and then I watch him pick up his foot and stomp it right down on top of our flowers! Then he smashes them into the concrete by turning his foot back and forth and looking up at me and smiling.

"You're such a jerk!" Denise yells.

He makes me so mad I explode! "What the heck do you think you're doing?! I yell as I stomp towards him. My arms are at my sides and my hands are held in tight fists. I glare at him. He doesn't look so happy anymore. Now he starts to look scared, but he stays there with his foot on top of our flowers. As soon as I reach him I kick him in the shin.

"Ow!" He yells, but he keeps his foot on the flowers.

I shove him hard so he falls backwards sitting on his bottom. "Ha ha!" He yells. "I ruined your stupid flowers!"

"That's it!" I yell. I start kicking him and he tries to protect himself by grabbing my foot so I fall backwards and land on my bottom, but my head falls back on the concrete and it hurts. Denise is by my side now asking if I'm ok. I sit up and nod my head. When I rub the back of my head it feels wet and sticky and I know what that means. I'm bleeding. I'm not gonna cry though.

"You hurt her!" Denise yells. "She's bleeding!"

"Serves her right!" Gary yells.

Dense starts to get up and I'm not sure if she's gonna hit him or not so I grab her arm. I don't want her to get in trouble for fighting. She's not used to getting in trouble, let alone suspended. "It's ok Denise. Don't hurt him, you'll just get in trouble. I'm surprised we haven't gotten caught already." The bell rings and Gary gets up. He picks the smashed flowers up and throws them at us before walking away.

"You're dead!" I yell after him. "I'm gonna get you back!" After he's gone I start to cry. Denise hugs me and then helps me stand up.

"What happened girls?" My teacher, Ms. Wilson, says as she walks up to us.

I whisper to Denise, "don't tell her about Gary or I'll get suspended for fighting."

Denise says, "someone ruined the flowers we picked."

"What happened to you Heidi? Is your head bleeding?" My teacher asks.

I nod my head.

"Denise, would you take Heidi to the office to get her cleaned up?"

"Sure."

As we walk to the office, I tell her, "I'm going to say I hurt myself on the slide. Ok?"

"Ok. I won't tell what really happened."

As soon as we walk in the office Ms. Trent is up from her desk fast and rushes over to us asking what happened.

"I bumped my head on the slide," I tell her. I follow her into the nurse's office so she can clean me up. Denise comes with us and we both sit down on the cot.

"It doesn't look like you'll need any stitches, but a doctor would know for sure."

"A doctor! No! You're not gonna call home are you?" I ask. "Can't I just have Hannah look at it? She's like a doctor."

"I'm going to have to call home to let someone know what happened. This really should be looked at."

"But all I did was hit my head on the cement! How could that make a cut that needs stitches?"

Denise squeezes my hand and I look at her. Her eyes are big and she shakes her head a little.

"What?" I mouth. I look up at Ms. Trent because she's looking at me now kind of strangely.

"I thought you said you bumped your head on the slide?" She says.

Oh. "Right. I did. I must of forgot. I guess it's because I hurt my head. It's making me not remember stuff."

"Hmm," Ms. Trent says. "I think you'd better see a doctor right away then. I'll call Adam." She turns to leave.

"Wait!" I say. She turns around and looks at me. "Ok, I didn't hurt my head on the slide. I hurt it on the ground."

"What happened?" She asks as she dabs at the cut with some cotton. She hands me an ice pack to hold on my head.

I don't know what to say. I can't tell her what really happened because I'll be suspended. "Um...,"

Denise blurts out, "we were playing tag out on the blacktop and I accidentally pushed Heidi down and she hit her head."

I take a deep breath and let the air out. I look up at Ms. Trent and raise my eyebrows. I hope she believes that.

"Ok. I wish you would've told me the truth from the beginning, girls."

"Sorry," we both say.

"Do you still have to call home?" I ask. I hope she says no.

"I'm sorry, but I have to. Why don't I call Hannah? Mr. Brick already called her earlier today." She leaves to go to her desk.

"Does it hurt?" Denise asks.

"No."

"Wouldn't that be funny if you had to get stitches in your head a few days after getting them in your finger?" She laughs a little.

"Oh no!" I get up and walk out of the nurse's office. "Ms. Trent, _please_ don't call Hannah!" I start to cry. If Hannah finds out I'm hurt she's probably gonna be even madder at Adam.

Ms. Trent closes the phone book and rushes over to me. "What's wrong?" She kneels down and hugs me.

"Just please don't call Hannah. Can you call home instead?"

"I'll try home first, but if no one's home, I have to call Hannah." She gets up and goes back to her desk.

"What's wrong Heidi?" Denise asks.

"Hannah's gonna be mad at Adam that I got hurt!"

"Why? This wasn't your fault."

"I know, but she'll still be mad at him. I don't want to make them fight even more."

"It'll be ok, Heidi."

Ms. Trent says, "sorry Heidi. There's no answer."

I cry more and Denise leads me back into the nurse's office and we sit down on the cot. I can hear Ms. Trent talking to someone and then I hear Mr. Brick. She must be talking to him. He walks over and stands in the doorway of the room we're in.

"Are you ok Heidi?" He asks.

I nod my head.

"Good." Then he tells Denise, "you can go back to class."

Denise stands up and says, "I'll pick some more flowers for you at the last recess."

"Thanks."

Mr. Brick moves out of the way to let her pass and then he stands back in the doorway and looks at me. "What happened?"

"I hit my head."

"On what?"

"The ground."

"Some of the first graders said they saw two kids fighting outside your classroom. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

I look up at him and shake my head no really fast.

"They said it was a girl and a boy fighting. Something about the boy stepping on some flowers?"

Aw man! Denise just said she'd pick me more flowers!

"The kids seemed to think the girl got hurt when the boy took ahold of the girl's foot and made her fall backwards. She hit her head on the cement. Are you sure you don't know anything about that?"

"No."

Mr. Brick leaves then. I don't think he believed me though. I hear him say, "Ms. Trent, when you get ahold of one of the McFaddens I'd like to talk to them."

He didn't believe me. I get up and ask if I can go back to class.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok?" Ms. Trent asks.

"Yes. Can I go please?"

"Sure."

I don't even bother to say goodbye as I leave. My head hurts now and I just want to go lay my head down on my desk. I wish Hannah was here so she could give me the little pink baby aspirin.

* * *

Ms. Wilson lets me stay in for the last recess and Denise picks some flowers for me to take home. We're doing an art project for the last part of school and my teacher said I didn't have to work on it today. She said I could do it tomorrow if I wanted to. I'm glad because I just want to rest. After a little while the intercom in our classroom turns on and I hear Ms. Trent's voice say, "Ms. Wilson, please send Heidi to the office. She's going home."

I get up and take my homework folder out of my desk and pick up the poppies and take them with me to the office. Along the way I wonder why I'm going home when school is almost over. I hope it's not because I was fighting. When I'm almost at the office I see Guthrie walking there too with his homework folder.

"Why are we going home?" He asks.

I shrug my shoulders.

"What's wrong?" He asks. "It looks like you've been crying."

"I hit my head on the cement."

"Oh."

We're at the office now and he opens the door and we go inside.

"Hannah!" I yell. She's at the counter talking to Ms. Trent. I run up and give her a hug and then I start crying. I don't know why I'm crying, I just feel like it. She hugs me back.

"Why are you picking us up early?" Guthrie asks her.

"I wanted to see if Heidi was ok." She lifts my chin up and says, "I came as soon as I could." I nod and try to wipe my tears away, but they keep coming. I feel exhausted. "Let me look at your head," she says. I feel her fingers press my hair down around my cut while she looks at it. "I don't think it needs stitches. I'll clean it really good when we get home."

"Hannah do you have to? My head hurts really bad. I don't think it can take the stinging stuff."

"Let's go home and we'll talk about it there."

She signs us out and we walk out to the parking lot.

* * *

As soon as we're in the truck Hannah asks what happened to my head.

I'm sitting in the middle and I stare straight ahead as we drive home. I don't know how to answer that because I don't know what she knows. So I ask, "who did you talk to?"

"Ms. Trent and Mr. Brick."

"What did they say happened?"

Guthrie gives me a look and mouths, "what'd you do?"

I shake my head at him and Hannah says, "I want to hear what happened from you."

"I hit my head."

"How?"

"I banged it on the cement."

"How did that happen?"

"When I fell I hit my head on it."

"How did that happen?" She asks again.

I think for a minute. How should I answer that? I know what she wants to know but I don't want to get in trouble so I say, "well, you know how when you fall you sometimes hit your head on something?"

"Yes?"

"That's what happened."

I think she's starting to get mad because she says, "I know what happens when you fall. I want to know how you fell."

I sigh. "I tripped."

"I don't believe you."

"I hit it on the slide."

"No, I heard you hit it on the cement."

"How did I do that?" I ask.

"That's what I want _you_ to tell _me_." I think she's mad.

"Denise pushed me when we were playing tag."

"I don't think so. Denise wouldn't have pushed you that hard."

Now I'm getting mad. "If you already know what happened, what are you asking me for?!"

Guthrie leans over and whispers in my ear, "don't yell at her. Remember, she's pregnant."

"Fine!" I yell. "Do you want to know what happened?"

"Yes. I'm listening."

"I don't want to tell you! I don't have to tell you either because you're not my mom!"

"Heidi!" Guthrie says.

"What! It's true!" Guthrie's window is rolled down so I take the poppies I'm holding and throw them out the window. Only half of them fall out, the rest land on Guthrie.

"What'd you do that for?!" He asks. He starts picking them up and throwing them out the window. All I can do is cry.

The three of us are quiet for the rest of the ride home.

* * *

As soon as we pull into our driveway I see Adam out with the cows and he rides his horse over to the barn. When Hannah parks the truck and Guthrie gets out, I jump out of the truck and throw my homework folder on the ground and run to where Adam is getting off his horse.

I run to him crying and he picks me up. "What's wrong? What happened? How come Hannah brought you home?"

All I can do is cry as he walks over to the truck.

"What happened?" He asks.

"Heidi hit her head at school," Guthrie tells him.

"Are you ok?" He asks.

"My head hurts. It doesn't need any stitches though," I tell him.

"That's good. How come Hannah picked you up?"

"The school called her."

I hear Adam ask Hannah, "why didn't they call home?"

"Nobody answered," I tell him. "I told Mr. Brick Hannah was working at Marie's so he called her." I look at Adam's face carefully to see what he thinks about that.

"Thanks," he tells her. "I would've picked her up. I know you had to work." I look at her.

"I'm happy to do it. The restaurant wasn't busy so I was able to get away."

We walk towards the house and Hannah says, "I got called twice today."

That's right! I forgot about what happened this morning.

"Twice?" Adam asks.

"Yes. We need to talk," she says.

"About what?" He's looking at me when he asks that.

"My head hurts," I say.

"I'll get you some aspirin when we get inside," Hannah says.

As soon as we get inside Hannah goes upstairs to get the aspirin out of the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

"You want to tell me why Hannah was called twice today?" Adam asks.

"I hit my head. I don't know why they called her twice about it."

"Then what do you think she wants to talk about?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with me. Maybe something happened at the restaurant."

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with you. Are you sure you don't want to tell me what it is before she does?"

I think about that. I'm not sure what she knows so I shake my head no while he carries me into the kitchen and sets me on the counter. Hannah comes in with her first aide kit and the aspirin. She gets a glass of water and hands it to me. "Chew these," she says as she hands three little pink pills. Then she takes the stinging stuff out of her kit. She puts some on a clean cloth and says, "hold still."

I try to hold still but it stings too much, so Adam holds me.

"There," she says. "That should do it." She puts the stuff back in her kit and says, "I'm going to go lay down now. I'm feeling really tired. I think I might be coming down with something."

Guthrie laughs a little when she says that and I glare at him.

"That's not funny Guthrie," Adam says. Then he asks Hannah, "what about the phone calls you got? I thought we were going to talk about those."

"I'm tired. Can we talk later?" She asks.

"When?"

She sighs. "Just later Adam. I don't want to argue right now." She walks out of the kitchen and he follows her.

"When dang it?! We haven't had a chance to talk about anything yet!"

"I don't want to fight right now," she says quietly. I jump off the counter and Guthrie and I stand in between the kitchen and the living room watching.

"I want to talk now!" He yells.

Hannah looks over at me and Guthrie and says, "now isn't the time."

Adam looks at us and then watches Hannah go into their bedroom and shut the door.

"I'm sorry Adam," I cry.

"Hey, don't cry. What are you sorry for? This isn't your fault." He walks over and picks me up and carries me to the couch. "Sit with me. You need to rest that head of yours."

He sits down and holds me so my head can rest on his shoulder and he rubs my back.

"Guthrie, would you do your sister's chores for her?"

"Sure. Adam, I'm sorry I laughed when Hannah said she didn't feel good."

That makes me cry. "Adam, I said something really mean to Hannah on the way home."

"Yeah, she did," Guthrie says.

"What was it?" Adam asks as he keeps rubbing my back.

"I don't want to say. I'm sorry I said it. I wish I could take it back."

"I've said some things to her I wish I could take back too."

"What should we do about it?" I ask.

"Let Hannah rest. Maybe we can tell her we're sorry later tonight."

I close my eyes and listen to Guthrie and Adam talk. I hope Hannah is feeling better tonight so her and Adam can talk. I can't wait to go out for pizza, but Adam doesn't know anything about that yet. I wish I hadn't thrown the flowers out the window. Maybe I can pick some more before we leave for Sonora. I can't wait to go have pizza with Daniel, Evan and Ford. We're gonna have fun. I fall asleep to take a little nap before it's time to go.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hannah, are you awake?" I ask quietly. I open the door to Adam and Hannah's bedroom just a little. The room is a little dark because she has the curtains closed. "Hannah?" I see her laying on top of the bed. She still has her work clothes on and she's laying on her side facing this way. I open the door more. "Hannah?"

She opens her eyes and says, "hi Heidi." She sits up a little and looks at the clock. "I guess I took a little nap," she says.

I walk in and stand next to the bed. "I took a little nap too."

"How's your head?"

"It only hurts a little bit. How's your stomach?"

She looks at me funny. "My stomach? My stomach's fine. Why are you asking?"

"I just thought maybe it was hurting you. Are you sick?"

"I'm not feeling the greatest. I think I may be coming down with something. It's probably what everyone else has in town. There's something going around." She sits all the way up now and reaches down to pick up one of her shoes.

"Hannah?" I watch her put her foot in her shoe. "I'm sorry."

She stops and looks at me. "Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you on the way home from school."

"Oh, that," she says. She stares at me and I'm not sure if I should say something else.

"I'm really sorry. What I said was mean. Hannah, I picked all those poppies for you."

"You did?" She smiles at me and I nod my head.

"And then I threw them out the window. I wish I hadn't done that. I wish I hadn't said what I said either."

She takes my hands and moves me so I'm standing right in front of her. "Heidi, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry you had to hear me yelling at Adam like that. I'm sorry we've been fighting in front of you." She lifts my chin up with her hand and looks right in my eyes. "I'm sorry for the horrible things I said at dinner the other night. I'm sorry I said all those mean things about your brothers and your mom and dad."

"You are?"

"Yes. I'm very sorry. I hurt you and your brothers when I said those things. I think your mom and dad would've been very proud of all of you." She pulls me in for a hug and then pulls me up onto her lap. "I'm sorry Heidi. I'm going to apologize to your brothers too. I want you to know I love you and I love your brothers and I love Adam very, very much."

"Then why are you fighting?"

"We just need some time to talk. We're just disagreeing about something right now. Well, I think it's more of a misunderstanding. We just need some time alone."

I quickly get off her lap and stand in front of her. "Guess what?!"

She smiles at me. "What?"

"You get to be alone with Adam tonight! Daniel, me, Guthrie, Ford and Evan are going to Sonora for dinner! We're gonna have pizza!"

She laughs. "That sounds like fun."

"I can't wait! I hope you and Adam get time to talk."

"With _all_ of you guys gone? I think we'll have plenty of time to talk! Wait a minute, what about Brian and Crane?"

"Crane has a date, and Brian won't tell me where he's going. I think he has a date too."

"Well, maybe I can make something special for Adam for dinner tonight. Especially since it's just the two of us." She's smiling big now and I can tell she's thinking hard.

"You look happy Hannah," I tell her.

She smiles and says, "I feel happy. I can't wait to talk to Adam. Let's go downstairs so I can get started on dinner. I think I'll make him his favorite dessert."

"Ok!"

She finishes putting her shoes on and we go downstairs.

* * *

I help Hannah make lemon meringue pie for Adam. I'm glad I'm not eating at home tonight because I hate that kind of pie. I don't like lemon desserts.

"Hannah, I'm gonna go find Guthrie and ask him when we're leaving," I tell her as I open the back door.

"Ok. If you see Adam, don't tell him what I'm making."

"Ok!" I walk outside and meet Crane coming in.

"Outta the way twerp!" He says picking me up and swinging me around until I can't stop laughing. "I've gotta date tonight. I need to take a shower." Brian is close behind him.

"Hurry up with that shower Crane. I gotta take one next," he says.

"You both seem happy," I tell them. They smile at me as they go inside. "Have fun on your dates!" I tease as I run down the porch steps. I look over towards the barn and see Guthrie. "Guthrie!" I yell as I run towards him. He runs towards me. When we meet I ask him when we're leaving.

"Daniel said we're leaving at five."

"Where's Adam?" I ask.

"I don't know. He was working with Brian and Crane, but he didn't come back with them."

"Does he know we're eating out?"

"I don't know."

"I told Hannah. She's making dinner for Adam. She's happy she's gonna get a chance to talk to him privately. She even made him lemon meringue pie." I see Adam over by the barn and he's walking towards the house. "Hey look, there he is!"

Guthrie looks too and we watch him walk over, except now I can see he's not walking towards the house. He's walking towards the jeep. He's getting in the jeep!

"What's he doing?!" Guthrie asks.

"I don't know! Adam! Adam!" We start yelling and running towards the jeep but he doesn't hear us. "Adam!" We yell as he drives off in the jeep.

* * *

I can't help but cry. He's not supposed to leave! Guthrie and I run through the back door and into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?!" Hannah asks.

"Adam left! He got in the jeep and drove away!" I cry. Hannah looks surprised. Brian's sitting at the table and he looks surprised too.

"Where's he going?" Guthrie asks. We look at Brian.

"I don't know," he says. "Crane and I told him everyone was going out tonight so he could have some time alone with Hannah. He didn't say anything. Are you sure he wasn't just driving the jeep out to the pasture?"

"No! He drove out to the street!" I cry. "Why did he leave? Doesn't he want to talk to Hannah?" I look at Hannah and she looks sad. I run up to her and give her a hug.

"Well, you know Adam. Sometimes he doesn't say what's on his mind," Brian says. He looks at Hannah. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."

I cry as I hug Hannah. This isn't how tonight was supposed to be!

* * *

Guthrie and I sit on the front porch steps. We're waiting for Adam to come home. He's been gone for a long time. Daniel, Crane and Brian are out on the porch talking.

"Go ahead and go, Crane," Brian says. "We'll stay."

"I know. I don't want to leave Hannah. I can't believe Adam just left like that! He makes me so mad! Why would he leave her? Especially in her condition?"

"I don't know," Brian says. "I just might go hunt him down and drag him home myself!"

"Crane, go on your date," Daniel says. "Brian, I know you're looking forward to seeing Laura again, and she's only in town for a few days, so you go too. Evan, Ford and I can stay with Hannah and take care of her."

I turn around and look at Brian. "You're going out with Laura? She's in town?" I'm excited for him, but sad at the same time for Hannah.

"Yeah, she's back in town for a little while. Come on Crane, you need to go. We don't all have to stay home and wait for Adam to come back," Brian says.

"I know. I feel bad leaving Hannah," he says.

"You know she wants you to go on this date," Daniel says. "Heck, she'll be mad at you if you don't go."

They laugh and Crane says, "you're right. I'll see you guys later." He walks down the steps and I walk with him to the truck.

"Where are you taking Isabella?" I ask.

"Ironstone Vineyard. I have a reservation."

I smile up at him. "She'll like that place." It's close and really fancy. It's hard to believe there's a winery in Murphys. My brothers say if times get too tough and small ranchers like us have to sell our ranches, all of Murphys is gonna be wineries. They hope that never happens. I hope not too.

"Bye twerp," Crane says as he puts his hand on top of my head and messes my hair up.

"Ow!"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you hurt your head." He kisses the top of my head and I smile.

"Tell Isabella I said hi."

"Ok. Have fun in Sonora," he says as he gets in the truck.

"I hope Adam comes home soon so we can go."

"Me too. Bye," he says as he shuts his door. I wave to him as he drives away and then run back to the porch.

"Brian, why isn't Adam coming home?" I ask as I run up to him. He picks me up.

"I don't know. He just being stupid. I'm sure he'll be home soon."

"Is Laura picking you up?"

"Yes. She should be here soon."

"Where are you going?"

"Angels Camp."

"Can I say hi to her when she gets here?"

"Sure, I think she'd like that." He puts me down and I go sit next to Guthrie. Laura lives in a different state. I think Colorado. She helped on our ranch when my family went to Reno. Brian went out with her and he seemed to like her. I liked her. She was really nice.

"I think I hear the jeep!" Guthrie yells and we both stand up and look out at the driveway. There's a truck driving up, not the jeep.

"Is that Laura?" I ask.

"Yes," Brian says as he walks down the stairs. I walk with him out to her truck.

"Hi Laura!" I yell and wave. She gets out of the truck and I run up to her and give her a hug.

"Hi Heidi!" She says. Brian is right behind me and she hugs him next. "Hi!"

"Hi," Brian says. "Do you want to come up to the porch and meet some of the family? Guthrie's up there and my brother Daniel."

"Sure, we've got a few minutes."

We walk up to the porch and Brian introduces her to Daniel. Guthrie says hi and then I ask if she wants to come in and say hi to Hannah.

"Sure."

"I'll wait out here for Adam," Guthrie says.

"Me too," I tell them. They go inside and Guthrie and I stare at the long dirt driveway hoping the jeep drives up soon.

* * *

"They've been in there for an hour!" I tell Guthrie.

"What are you talking about?"

"Brian and Laura. They've been inside for a long time."

"It's probably been five minutes, ten minutes max."

"Oh. Well it sure seems like an hour."

The front door opens and Brian, Laura, Daniel, Evan and Ford come outside.

"Where's Hannah?" I ask.

"She went to lay down," Ford says.

"Is she sad?" I ask.

"I think so."

Brian talks to Daniel quietly for a minute and then he takes Laura's hand and they walk down the steps. "Bye guys. Don't wait up," he says.

"Bye," I say. Then I walk over to Daniel and he picks me up while Evan and Ford go sit on the steps with Guthrie. We wave bye to Brian and Laura as they drive away.

"Daniel, what time is it?" I ask.

"It's just after five."

"We were supposed to leave now. Why isn't Adam back? Why is he making Hannah sad?"

"I don't know Heidi. We just have to wait and see."

We all wait together for a little while and then I tell Daniel I want to go be with Hannah. "Can I?" I ask.

"Sure, I think she'd like that."

"Daniel, do you think the baby is sad too?"

"I don't think so, but I'm pretty sure Hannah is. Why don't you go see if she wants some company," he says and he puts me down.

I walk in the house and smell Hannah's fried chicken. It smells good and she made it especially for Adam. I slowly walk up the stairs to Adam and Hannah's bedroom. The door is open and I peek inside. Hannah is laying on top of the bed. The curtains are still closed so it's hard to see if her eyes are open. I walk in quietly right up to the bed.

"Hannah?" I ask quietly. "Are you ok?" She doesn't answer so I get on the bed and lay down next to her on Adam's side. She moves a little and opens her eyes.

"Hi. What are you doing in here?"

"Hannah, are you sad?"

"I'm just resting," she says.

"I'm sorry Hannah. I wish Adam would come back."

"Me too." She scoots closer to me and smoothes my hair back with her hand. Then she keeps smoothing it back as we lay here quietly.

It's quiet in the house. It's so quiet I can hear a car driving on the driveway outside. Adam must be home. I look at Hannah and we stare at each other. When the car stops I hear yelling. My brothers must be fighting but it doesn't last long. I hear the front door open and Adam yells, "Hannah!" I hear him come up the stairs fast. "Hannah!" He yells as he comes into the bedroom. I look at him and he's holding a pink bakery box in one hand, and a bunch of flowers in the other. Pretty flowers. Way prettier than the poppies I picked. Hannah and I sit up. Adam rushes to her side of the bed and sits down next to her. He sets the flowers and the box on the bed.

"I'm so sorry Hannah," he says.

"Me too Adam." They hug each other and the hug lasts for a long time. I stare at them and I start to feel happy. Then Hannah pulls away.

"Adam, I felt so sad when I heard you left. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was."

Adam lifts her chin up and kisses her right on the lips. Yuck! "I'm sorry Hannah. I wasn't thinking. I should've told someone where I was going." He picks up the flowers and holds them out to her. "These are for you."

"Oh Adam, they're beautiful! You know roses are my favorite." She smiles at him and this time _she_ kisses _him_.

"I also know strawberry rhubarb pie is your favorite dessert, so," he holds out the pink box to her, "I went to Marie's and bought one."

Hannah laughs and I do too.

"What's so funny?"

I tell him, "Hannah made your favorite dessert."

He looks at her. "Lemon meringue pie?"

"Yes," she says, "and your favorite fried chicken dinner with all the fixings."

"You are one fine woman," Adam says as he gives her a hug.

"I'm so glad we finally get some time to talk," she says.

I clear my throat and they both stop hugging and look at me, and I say, "make sure it's just talking and not yelling!"

They smile at me and then they look into each others eyes and they look happy. They look like they're in love and that makes me happy. Then they kiss again. "Yuck!"

Adam stops kissing Hannah and reaches over and pulls me into a hug. "Yuck, huh," he says as he starts tickling my sides. I laugh and wiggle away from him until I slowly fall down on to the floor and sit there laughing. "You're a nut," he tells me. I smile up at him and then he asks, "how's your head?"

"It's ok."

"We need to talk about that too," Hannah tells Adam.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"Well, it seems Heidi might not have...,"

I jump up. "Bye!" I yell and I run out of their room as fast as I can and downstairs where my brothers are getting ready to leave.

"Are you ready to go?" Daniel asks me.

"Yep!"

Hannah and Adam are out of their room now and walking down the stairs. "Remember, it's a school night. I expect you to be back before ten. Nine o'clock would be even better," Adam says. "And no drinking beer. I don't want you drinking and driving."

"Ok _Dad_," Daniel says.

"Don't call me Dad," Adam says.

"Whatever you say, _Dad_," Guthrie teases. He starts to laugh and says, "goodbye, _Mom_," to Hannah.

Evan and Ford push him out the front door and they say, "knock it off!"

I laugh too and follow them out. "Shotgun!" I yell as I run to the truck.

"No!" All my brothers yell. "You're in the backseat Heidi. Right in the middle."

"That's no fair! How come I _always_ have to sit in the back, in the middle, just because you guys are bigger than me?!" I don't really care though because we're going to the pizza place. I get in the back of the jeep and Ford and Guthrie sit on either side of me. Daniel drives and Evan turns the radio on and turns the volume all the way up so we can all sing along as loud as we want too.

* * *

When we pull up to the pizza place it's crowded. The parking lot is full with only a few open spots. Daniel parks and we get out of the jeep. Guthrie and I run ahead.

"We'll pick out a table!" I yell.

"Watch for cars!" Daniel yells.

We run inside and look for a table. This time we only need to find a table for five people instead of having to get the biggest table for our whole family. We find a table and sit down on the benches. When Daniel, Evan and Ford come in, they go to the counter to order our pizza. After a while Ford brings over two pitchers of soda and Evan's got the cups. I stand up and take a cup and a pitcher and start to pour some soda in it. Why are pitchers always so hard to pour from? The ice spills from the pitcher into my cup and on top of the table while the soda spills down the side of the pitcher and forms a small puddle on the table. None of it goes in the cup.

Daniel takes the pitcher out of my hands and says, "here, pour it from the side and fast like this." The soda and ice go straight into my cup when he pours it.

"Thanks," I say as I take my cup and drink from it. "I'm gonna go get a straw. Does anyone else want one?" I ask that as I leave the table and run up to the counter, so I don't even hear if anyone answers. I get sidetracked when I see the jukebox so I run over to it instead. I look at the songs and see one I really want to hear so I run back to the table.

"Can I have a quarter?!" I yell.

"Calm down," Daniel says. He pulls out two dollars from his wallet and says, "Crane gave each of you a dollar." He hands one to me and one to Guthrie. "That's it. Don't ask for any more money ok?"

"Ok! Thanks!" I yell as I run to get change. Guthrie follows me and when we have quarters we go to the jukebox and each pick out a song to play. "I wonder how many songs will play until it plays ours!" I say excitedly. That's part of the fun for me with a jukebox is seeing how many songs were picked out before I picked mine, and then when you're eating your pizza and you hear your song you get all excited and start singing along.

"Hey, the pizza's here," Ford tells us.

We go back to the table but I'm too excited to sit down. I want to go into the arcade next. This place has a lot of pinball machines, but it also has two video games and I can't wait to play them! I take a slice of pepperoni pizza and start eating, but after taking two bites I can't wait any longer.

"I'm gonna go play Space Invaders," I yell and I run off before anyone can say no. I run right to the game and watch the person playing it. He's pretty good. I'm not good at playing it yet, but I'm getting better each time I play. When he's done I put my quarter in and play.

"How are you doing?" Guthrie asks. I can feel he's next to me.

"I just started," I tell him. I'm trying to concentrate really hard, but I'm not very good.

"Don't move so fast!" Guthrie shouts. "Watch out!"

"I'm trying!" Well, that didn't last long. I'm dead. "I'm gonna play again!" I put my quarter in and this time I stay alive a little longer.

"Hey, you almost lasted three minutes this time," Guthrie says. "My turn." He puts his quarter in and I watch him play. It doesn't take that long before both of us are out of quarters. Time to go finish eating. We run back to the table and I sit down to eat. It sounds like Evan, Daniel and Ford are talking about something important so I listen.

"Cleo said the same thing," Ford says.

"Becky wouldn't tell me either," Evan says.

"What are you guys talking about?" Guthrie asks.

"Nothing," Daniel says and he keeps talking to them. "It's weird. Allison won't tell me anything about it."

I whisper to Guthrie, "they must be talking about our surprise party."

"Right."

Evan says, "do you think they're not telling us where the party is because they know we're grounded and they don't want us to feel bad?"

"Maybe," Daniel says. "But _no one_ will tell us. It's supposedly the party of the year because everyone's parents are going to be at the Whiskerino. Jake won't tell me where it is and neither will Greg."

"I know. I asked David to tell me and he just smiled and said, 'it's a secret', I don't get it. Why is it such a big secret and the whole school knows, but no one will tell _us_?" Ford says. "It's not like we can go to it."

"I don't know," Evan says. "I wish we weren't grounded." Then he whispers, "maybe we can sneak out."

"Sneak out from where?" Ford asks. "We're babysitting."

"We don't _all_ have to stay and babysit," Evan says. I think he's mad because he glares at me and then leaves to go play pinball. Ford and Daniel go with him while Guthrie and I finish eating.

"What do you think they were talking about?" I ask.

"I don't know. It sounds like there's a big party on Saturday night that everyone's going to."

"But Cleo, Becky, and Allison are supposed to come to _our_ party, at our house on Saturday night. Maybe we should call them tomorrow and remind them. Daniel, Evan and Ford are really gonna be mad at us if the girls don't come over, _and_ they miss the party of the year."

"I know," Guthrie says. "I wonder why no one will tell them where it is."

"I guess it's a _secret_ party. Hey, that's funny, it's kind of like ours is a secret _surprise_ party!"

Guthrie stands up and says, "listen! Your song's playing!"

I forgot about the jukebox. It is playing! We start singing along while we finish eating. After we've listened to my song and Guthrie's, we get up and go watch our brothers play pinball. They're good at playing so we watch for a while until Daniel says, "last quarter."

"Where are we going after this?" I ask.

"Home," Evan says.

"Can we go out for ice cream?" Guthrie asks.

I jump up and down. "Can we? Can we?!"

"Can't," Daniel says. He pushes the buttons on the machine really fast to save his ball. "I don't have anymore money."

"Then what are we gonna do next?" I ask.

"We're going home," Daniel says. "I don't have any more money."

"Maybe we could do something that's free," I suggest.

Ford laughs. "Like what? Nothing's free."

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. All I know is, when we get home we're going to bed. So we might as well do something fun and stay out later instead of going home now and going to bed."

"She's got a point," Evan says. "Adam said we had to be back by ten. If we leave now, we'll be home at nine."

"Right," Daniel says, "but there's nowhere to go. If you guys can think of a place let me know." He almost loses his ball, but he saves it just in time.

"We can see a movie," I suggest.

"It has to be free," Daniel reminds me.

I try to think of something while we watch Daniel play, but I can't think of anything. When Daniel is done playing we leave the restaurant and drive home.

* * *

As soon as Daniel turns the jeep off I get out of it as fast as I can. I run towards the house and race up the porch steps. I burst the door open and shout, "Hannah! Adam!" They're sitting on the couch so I run over to them.

"We're right here," Adam says. "What's wrong?"

I look at them and see they're sitting close to each other and Adam has his arm around Hannah's shoulder.

"You guys made up? You love each other again? Did you talk? Did you...,"

"Hold on," Adam says. They're both smiling at me.

Hannah says, "yes, we talked. We talked a lot." She looks at Adam and they kiss.

My brothers come inside now and Ford says, "I guess things are back to normal now."

"We're good," Adam says.

"Thanks for giving us some privacy, Daniel," Hannah says.

"Don't thank me, thank Heidi. This was all her idea."

Hannah looks at me and says, "thank you Heidi."

I try to squeeze in the middle of them and they laugh and Adam pulls me up onto his lap. "You're a good little matchmaker," he says.

I don't say anything. I just sit here and snuggle with them while they talk to my brothers about the pizza place. I'm so happy Adam and Hannah are happy again. After a while Adam says it's bedtime for me and Guthrie.

"Nope," I say while snuggling in even more. "I'm staying right here!" I only get up when Adam and Hannah tickle me. "What did you guys talk about?" I ask.

"None of your business," Adam says. He's smiling and then he looks at Hannah and they kiss each other.

"Oh brother! All you guys do is kiss now!"

"That's better than fighting," Hannah says to me. Then she turns back to Adam and says, "isn't that right, Mr. McFadden?"

"Yes it is _Mrs_. McFadden." They kiss _again_!

"Yuck!"

"Go get ready for bed now and I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in," Adam says.

"Will you both tuck me in?" I ask.

"Of course," Hannah says.

"Yeah!" I smile at them and then I glare at them and shake my finger at them. "But no kissing! You can't kiss each other in my room! No kissing allowed!"

They laugh at that and Hannah says, "what if I want to kiss you goodnight?"

"That you can do," I tell her.

"Good," she says. Then Adam says, "go get ready for bed now."

"Ok," I say and I run to the stairs.

* * *

When I'm ready for bed Adam and Hannah come in my room and sit down on my bed. I lay down and Hannah puts the covers on me. I look up at them and they look so happy. That makes me feel so happy. But then Adam's face doesn't look so happy. It looks like his serious face. I wonder why. Did I do something wrong?

"Heidi, we have something very important to talk about," he says.

Oh, maybe they're gonna tell me Hannah's pregnant! I sit up really fast and smile.

"You need to tell me what happened at school today," Adam says.

I groan and lay back down on my bed. "I'm too tried right now." I yawn. "See." Now I close my eyes.

"Heidi, open your eyes, this is important."

"I can't. I'm asleep."

"If you're asleep how come you're talking," Adam asks.

Now I don't say anything. I just lay real still with my eyes closed.

"Heidi, open your eyes and look at me. Now!"

I open them and look at Adam.

"Mr. Brick called Hannah twice today. Why don't you tell me about what happened at school today."

"If she already knows what happened, and I'm sure she does, then she probably already told you what happened," I tell him. "So why do I have to tell you too."

"I want to hear your side," Adam says.

"I don't have a side," I tell him and I close my eyes again.

"Heidi, come on! This is important!"

He sounds mad now so I open my eyes. "I'm tired. Why can't we just talk about this after school tomorrow?"

"Mr. Brick wants to talk to you at school tomorrow."

"What?! Why?! He's just gonna send me home! I don't want to go to school tomorrow!"

"You're going to school," Adam says.

"No I'm not!" I sit up. "If I go, he's just gonna call you and have you come pick me up!"

"Why?"

"Because he's mean and he doesn't like me!"

"That's not true," Adam says.

I look at him like he's crazy. "Yes it is! He hates me!"

"Well, he wants to talk to you in the morning."

"But then I'll miss reading again! This isn't fair!"

"Tell me what happened at school today," Adam says.

I glare at Hannah and say, "ask _her_!"

Hannah puts her hand on Adam's arm. She does that when he gets upset. It helps him calm down. I look at him and he looks pretty mad.

"I'm asking you!"

"Ok fine! I hurt my head at school and that's why he called her."

"No, tell me what happened this morning."

Huh? Oh yeah. "Mr. Brick wanted to know what happened yesterday."

"What else happened?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"I can see you're going to make this difficult," Adam says. "Did you tell Mr. Brick he wasn't the principal?"

"Yes."

"Why would you say that?!"

"Because school hadn't started yet!"

"He's _always_ the principal!"

"That's what he said. But he's not."

"What do you mean _he's not_?"

"If I see him in town he's not the principal. He can't tell me what to do."

"Well at school he _is_ the principal! Always!"

"Even if the bell hasn't rang yet?"

"Yes."

"That does seem fair," I tell him.

"Too bad. Did you answer the phone at school today?"

I stare at him and don't say a word.

"I'll take it you did, since you're not talking?"

"Yes," I say quietly.

"Why would you do that?!" He yells and Hannah puts her hand back on his arm.

"Because no one was answering it."

He sighs and says, "don't do that again."

"I won't."

"Mr. Brick said you wrote on a very important piece of paper that was laying on his desk," Hannah says.

I stare at her.

"Heidi, don't answer the phone in the office and don't touch anything in the office. Got it?" Adam asks.

Hmm. "Don't touch _anything_?"

Now Adam glares at me. "You know what I mean!"

I smile. "That should be no problem," I tell him. "I won't even be able to _go_ into the office since the doorknob is part of the office and I can't touch it."

I shouldn't have said that because Adam looks really mad now. "I SWEAR TO GOD...," he starts to say and it looks like he's about to grab me.

Hannah says, "calm down Adam." She holds him back and I scoot up towards my headboard so I'm sitting up now and I'm as far away from him as possible. "Heidi, you know what Adam means, don't you?"

I nod my head.

"You'd better or I swear I'm gonna..,"

"Adam, stop. Let's find out what happened to her head." Adam stops talking and glares at me while Hannah talks. "Heidi, Mr. Brick seems to think you got in a fight today and that's how you hurt your head."

I stare at her.

"Is that what happened?" She asks.

When I don't answer her, she tells me what Mr. Brick thinks happened and he knew everything. I don't even want to look at Adam now. I put my head down and cover my face with my hands.

Hannah puts her hand on my back and starts rubbing it as I cry. Then she says, "that's what Mr. Brick wants to talk about in the morning."

I look up and say, "Hannah, Gary smushed all the flowers I picked for you! He's so mean!"

"That wasn't very nice of him," she says, "but it doesn't mean you can kick him."

I look at Adam when she says that and he says, "I told you yesterday I don't want you fighting."

"I know!" I cry. "But he's just so mean! I think Denise was gonna punch him, but I stopped her."

"Heidi, we're going to talk about this fight when you get home from school tomorrow, because it's late now and I want you to get some sleep. But that's what Mr. Brick wants to talk to you about tomorrow morning."

"He's just gonna call you and have you come pick me up."

"Then I'll come get you and we'll talk about it then. Now lay down and close your eyes."

I do that and they kiss me goodnight and leave. It's gonna take me a long time to go to sleep tonight because I have a lot to think about. I don't want to talk to Mr. Brick tomorrow. He's just gonna suspend me for fighting. Then I think about Adam and Hannah. I'm glad they made up. I also wonder how Crane and Brian's dates are going. I wish I could stay up and ask them when they get home. Now I think about Saturday. I have to make sure Becky, Cleo and Allison are still coming over and _not_ going to this other secret party. I have a lot to think about before I go to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

When I wake up in the morning I do _not_ want to get up. I don't want to go to school today. I don't even know _why_ I should go since I'm just gonna get sent home for fighting yesterday. Hannah walks into my room to see if I'm awake.

"Good, you're up," she says.

"You're home! How come you're not working? Did Adam tell you not to work anymore?" I'm so happy! I missed Hannah in the mornings and after school. "Are you going to be home all day today?" I ask hopefully.

"Yes. And no, Adam didn't tell me I couldn't work anymore. Heidi, he wouldn't do that."

"Then why are you home?"

"Well, for one thing, Marie isn't sick anymore. But the most important reason why I'm not working today is because I want to be home with my family. I love taking care of you and I want to do that today."

I smile. "So you're not working anymore?"

"No, I didn't say that. I'm still going to work, we can really use the money, and I like that I can help out with that. Instead of working two or three days a week I'm going to be working four days a week now."

"But I don't want you to. And what about...," I don't know if I should tell her I know she's pregnant.

"What about what Heidi?" She asks.

"Nothing." I feel sad now. I don't want Hannah to work more, and what if working hurts the baby? Hannah sits down on my bed.

"Heidi, I know you're sad...,"

"I miss you Hannah. And not just because you cook me breakfast or bake cookies for us to eat after school, I miss seeing you in the morning and after school. I miss talking to you and I don't like it at all when you're not home for dinner. We should all be home together as a family and eat dinner together."

"I want that too, and Marie knows that too. I'm not going to be working at night 'unless' Marie really needs me. Marie will only ask me to work at dinnertime if it's an emergency. Ok?"

I look up at her and I can tell she really wants me to say ok. "Ok," I say softly, "but I will still miss you."

She hugs me and says, "I will miss you too."

When we're done hugging Hannah tells me to get up and get dressed. I notice she's not dressed. "How come you're still in your robe?" I ask her.

"Oh, I'm not feeling the greatest. I'm going to lay down after you leave for school."

I wonder if she doesn't feel good because she's pregnant. I look at her stomach. It doesn't look fat. I can't believe there's a baby in there. Without thinking, I reach out and put my hand on her stomach.

She smiles and asks, "what are you doing?"

I pull my hand away quickly. "Does your stomach hurt?"

"No. I just feel really tired."

"You should stay in bed all day today." Then I think of a great idea. "I know! I could stay home and take care of you!"

She laughs. "No, you're going to school today."

"Aw come on! Pleeeeeeease? My head hurts really, really bad too."

She lifts my chin up so I can look into her eyes. "You're going to school today."

"But I'm just going to get sent home!"

"You might. We'll just have to wait and see what happens." She stands up. "Now get up and get ready for school. I've got pancakes and bacon already on the table downstairs, so come down soon before your brothers eat it all." She leaves my room and I get up and shut my door so I can get dressed.

* * *

"Where's Adam?" I ask when I walk into the kitchen and don't see him.

"He's out working with Brian," Crane says.

"Then who's gonna come pick me up when I get sent home from school?"

"I am. You don't know you're getting sent home today," he says.

I stare at him. "Are you joking?! Have you met Mr. Brick? When has he _not_ sent me home for fighting?"

Crane puts his coffee cup down and says, "you never know."

"Yeah right! You should drive me to school and just wait in the parking lot."

"I'm not going to do that. He might not get around to talking to you until the end of the day."

"He would never do that. If he did, he wouldn't be able to send me home, and likes to do that. So expect a call in the morning." I pick up my fork and eat a bite of my pancake.

Guthrie comes in and as soon as he sees Crane he asks, "how was your date last night?!"

"Yeah, how was it?!" I ask. I can't believe I forgot about that!

Crane smiles really big and says, "it was perfect. We took a tour of the winery and did a little wine tasting, and then we had a nice dinner."

"And then what?" I ask.

"And then I took her home."

"Did you kiss her?" Guthrie asks.

Crane smiles and says, "none of your business."

"You did!" I yell and I knock my chair over as I jump up.

"How many times did you kiss her?" Guthrie teases.

I smile and say, "did you kiss her on the lips?"

Crane gets up and says, "hurry and finish your breakfast. You don't want to be late." He starts putting our sandwiches in our lunch bags.

"Where's Hannah?" I ask as I pick up my chair and sit back down.

"She said she was tired," Guthrie says. "After she got me up, she went into her room to lay down."

That makes me worried. "Crane? Do you think the baby is making her sick?"

"I don't know. I guess it could. But there's something going around and that's probably what she has. She's been working a lot too, so I'm sure she's exhausted."

Guthrie and I get up and put our dishes in the sink. Crane hands us our lunches.

"Crane, I'm sorry you have to come pick me up today," I tell him. "I'm sure you have lots of work to do on the ranch."

Crane lifts my chin up and says, "you don't know you're getting sent home. Besides, if I do have to come pick you up, I get to see Isabella." He smiles. I smile back and he kisses my forehead. "Have a good day you two."

"I'll try," I tell him. But I already know it's not gonna be a good day.

* * *

When the bus pulls up to school I see Mr. Brick. It looks like he's waiting for me. Sure enough, as soon as I get off the bus, he walks right over to me.

"Go to the office and wait for me on the bench," he tells me.

Jeez. No good morning or anything. Just, 'go sit on the bench'. I hate Mr. Brick. I glare at him and walk to the office. He's staying out here though. He's probably waiting for Gary's bus. I 'told' Crane he should've taken me to school! I walk in the office and say hi to Ms. Trent.

"Good morning Heidi," she says. "How's your head?" She's smiling at me. See, she's nice. Mr. Brink isn't. He's just mean!

"It's ok," I tell her. "Did you have fun on your date?"

Her cheeks turn pink and she smiles. "Yes."

"I knew you'd like Crane!" I smile at her and then I ask, "you do like him, don't you?"

"Yes. He's taking me to the dance on Saturday night."

I jump up and down. "Really?! He's taking you to Whiskerino?!"

She laughs. "Yes. It turns out he _is_ a good dancer."

I put my arms up on the counter and rest my chin on them. "You guys danced last night?"

She nods. Wow, that must've been a perfect date. The office door opens and I look at it and a parent walks in. It's Amy's mom. She wants to talk to Ms. Trent so I sit down on the bench near the principal's office. I watch Ms. Trent. She's so pretty and she's smiling while she's talking to Amy's mom. The door opens again and Gary walks in. He sits on the bench too, and we both scoot to opposite ends so we're as far away from each other as possible.

"You're a snitch!" He whispers to me.

"No I'm not!" I whisper back. "Why would I get myself in trouble you big dummy?!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Dummy!" I whisper as I smile at him.

"You're lucky we're in the office," he says, "or I'd punch you right now."

I stand up. "Go ahead!" I yell.

Ms. Trent says, "Heidi, sit down and be quiet please." Then she goes back to talking to Amy's mom.

"You're dead meat anyway," I whisper to him. "You smushed my flowers and I'm gonna get you back for that!"

"Ms. Trent, Heidi's bugging me," Gary says.

Ms. Trent looks over at us and stares, so I turn and look away from everybody. I hear the office door open and guess it must be Mr. Brick. I turn back around and see Denise walking towards the bench.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask.

She shrugs her shoulders. "I guess I'm a witness." She sits down next to me as close as she can to put as much distance as she can between her and Gary.

The bell rings and Amy's mom leaves. Ms. Trent sits down at her desk and works. After what seems like forever, Mr. Brick walks in with three little kids. They must be first graders.

"Are these the kids you saw fighting?" He asks them. They all shout yes and he says, "thank you. You may go back to class."

"I told you I didn't snitch!" I yell at Gary.

"Heidi, be quiet!" Mr. Brick yells. "I'll start with you first. In my office! Now!"

I stand up and follow him into his office. He sits at his chair behind his desk, and I sit in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. I pick the closest one to the door. When I sit down I glare at Mr. Brick.

"Tell me what happened," he says.

I stare at him and don't say anything.

"Well? Tell me what happened."

I'm not gonna talk.

"Why aren't you talking?!" He yells.

"Jeez! Make up your mind! You _just_ told me to be quiet! Do you want me to talk, or be quiet?!"

His face turns red fast! He looks angry. "You tell me what happened right now, or...,"

He doesn't finish that sentence. He just sits there glaring at me.

"Or what? You can't think of anything can you? Because you're already sending me home, what else can you do besides that?" If he's gonna send me home, I'm gonna make the most of it!

Yikes! He stands up and points his finger at me and says, "you will tell me what happened right now, or I will suspend you for ALL of next week!"

What?! I didn't know he could do that! That would NOT be good!

"Ok, I'll tell you." He sits back down and I take a deep breath and let it all out as I say, "Denise and I picked some flowers and Gary smushed them so I kicked him and he pushed me."

"And that's all?" He asks.

I nod my head. "Yep."

"You have nothing to add to that?"

I think for a second and then say, "nope."

"Ok, go wait out on the bench while I hear what Denise and Gary have to say."

I stand up and ask, "can I go get my reading book?" Then I add, "please?"

"No. Send Denise in."

I glare at him. "Why not? I want to read while I wait. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now! Every time I'm in here lately I miss reading! And I don't like it!"

"Tough luck. Send in Denise."

"I hate you!" I mutter under my breath.

"What was that?" He asks.

"I said 'I will.'" I leave his office and tell Denise to go in. I glare at Gary as I sit back down on the bench and wait to see what Mr. Brick is going to do with us.

Denise isn't in there for too long, and then Gary goes in.

Denise says, "I don't like being in here."

"Me either. I wish we could read our reading book."

"Me too," she says and she sighs.

When Gary's done Mr. Brick comes out with him. "Denise, I need to speak with you again."

That's weird. I wonder why he needs to do that? Gary sits down at the other end of the bench. I look into the principal's office to watch. Denise's back is to me and it looks like she's shaking. I think she's crying! Denise stands up and when she turns around to come out I can see she _is_ crying.

"What's wrong?" I ask her when she gets to the bench. I stand up to hug her and she says, "he thinks I hit Gary!" She cries a lot now and I hug her. "Why does he think that?"

"I don't know. He wants to talk to you again."

I let go of her and stomp back in to Mr. Brick's office. "DENISE DID _NOT_ HIT GARY!" I yell.

"Close the door and stop yelling at me!" I do that and he says, "sit down." When I do he says, "it seems you forgot to tell me about the part where you kicked Gary when he was laying on the ground."

Oh right I forgot about that. "Right. I kicked him and he grabbed my foot and that's when I fell."

"You also forgot to mention Denise hit Gary."

"That's because she didn't!" I yell as I jump up out of the chair.

"Sit down!" I sit back down and he says, "see, this is the part where I'm not sure if I should believe you. You lie a lot, or omit things, or..,"

"Omit? What does that mean?"

"You leave things out of your story. Obviously I'm sending all three of you home today for fighting."

"But Denise didn't do anything!" I tell him.

"That's not what I heard," he says. He starts to say other things but I'm not listening now. Why doesn't he believe me or Denise? She _never_ gets in trouble. Gary must of told him a lie. But why would he believe Gary? I wonder if one of the first graders told him that? I interrupt Mr. Brick.

"Who told you Denise hit Gary?"

"I'm talking right now, and you're supposed to be listening." He starts talking again so I start thinking again. This isn't fair. Denise's mom and dad aren't gonna like this. I'm sure they'll believe her though, and I think they'll believe me.

"Are you listening to me!" I hear Mr. Brick yell.

"What?"

"I said, I think Denise should do a better job at picking out her friends."

What does that mean? He keeps talking and I keep thinking.

"Hey!" I yell. "That means you think I'm not a good friend to Denise! Doesn't it?!" When he doesn't answer I yell, "you're mean and I don't like you!" Then I cry.

"Go wait on the bench while I have Ms. Trent call home."

I stand up and he follows me out. I look at Gary through my tears and he smiles at me. I want to punch him, I am so mad! I take two steps towards him and bring my right arm back and make my hand into a fist and bring it forward and punch Gary right in the face!

"Ow!" He yells and now he's crying. I get ready to punch him again but Mr. Brick holds me back and yells, "sit down and don't move!" I do that and he yells, "I'm not sure if you're going home for a day now, or for a week!" Now all three of us are crying. "Ms. Trent would you come into my office please." Then he tells Gary, "you're first. Go to your classroom, get your things and come right back!" Gary gets up and leaves and Mr. Brick and Ms. Trent go into his office and shut the door.

I hug Denise and tell her, "it's gonna be ok. Your mom will believe you when you tell her what happened. I'll tell your mom you didn't hit Gary too." Denise can't stop crying, but I can. I'm mad. Mr. Brick is so mean! How can he not believe Denise? He's also stupid! None of us have been to class yet, so we don't have to get anything from there. I wonder what Gary's doing. I can't wait 'till it's my turn to go. I'm gonna get my reading book.

Ms. Trent comes out and walks back over to her desk. She doesn't look at us. She starts looking up phone numbers. I'm glad Crane's coming to pick me up. Gary comes back and Mr. Brick tells me it's my turn to get my things.

"You're gonna be ok," I whisper to Denise and I get up and leave.

* * *

When I walk into my classroom Ms. Wilson is sitting at her desk. She looks up at me and says, "good morning."

I give her a little wave and tell her I've been in the office.

"I know," she says.

"I just came to get my reading book and then I'm going back."

Everyone looks at me while I walk to my desk. It looks like they're doing math now. They must've already had the first recess, because we always do math after it. I get my book and decide to talk to Ms. Wilson before I go back. I walk right up to her desk and stare at her.

"Did you get your book?" She asks. She's smiling at me.

I nod. "Ms. Wilson? Denise is in trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"Gary told Mr. Brick that she hit him! She didn't! It's not fair! Mr. Brick won't believe us!" I start to cry again.

Ms. Wilson stands up and gets a tissue and walks around her desk to me. "Here," she says as she hands it to me. Then she puts her hand on my back and rubs it a little bit. "Heidi, I'm sure Mr. Brick will get this all sorted out. That doesn't sound like Denise."

"But he's sending her home!" I cry.

"Are you sure about that? That doesn't sound right."

"Yes! He's sending her home just like me and Gary! Ms. Wilson, he said I wasn't a good friend for her to have. Mr. Brick is a mean principal and I hate him!"

Ms. Wilson hugs me a little. "Heidi, why don't you go back to the office. I'm sure once Denise's mom gets here she'll sort things out."

"Ok." My teacher stops hugging me and gives me a little pat on the back. I walk to the door and open it. I hear her say to the class, "get back to work please."

Amy says, "Ms. Wilson, I believe Heidi. Denise would never hit anyone."

I walk out and close the door behind me and look around. I don't feel like going back to the office. I hate Mr. Brick so much right now I might punch him! I guess I could go read my book somewhere else.

I head out to the playground. It's empty so I look for a good place to read. I don't really feel like hiding, I just want to stay away from Mr. Brick. I decide to climb up to the top of the jungle gym and read up there. I climb to the top with my book in my hand. The jungle gym is pretty high up and it's in the shape of a dome. Adam could stand up in the middle and not hit his head. If I sit right in the middle of the top, no one would be able to reach me unless they climbed all the way up on the side, _and_ climbed over the top to get to me in the middle. Once I'm on top I sit on a bar with my feet hanging down and lean back a little and rest my back against a bar that's behind me. We sit like this all the time during recess. It's a little uncomfortable but I can do it for a while, so I open up my book and start reading.

I can't remember what chapter we're on so I guess I'll start with chapter four. I open my book and find the chapter and start to read. Once I start to read I remember things that have happened in the story and all I can think about is what I'm reading about. A mouse and a motorcycle. After I've read a few pages I hear my name being called. I look up and see Mr. Brick. He's walking fast and since he's a little bit overweight it looks like he's breathing hard and I can tell his face is red. Bright red! I laugh a little but then I go back to being mad at him, so I glare at him as he walks over to me.

"You get down from there right now!" He yells. He keeps yelling it as he gets nearer. I ignore him by pretended to read my book. When he gets here he yells, "Heidi get down here right now!" I close my book and glare at him. He tries to get underneath me by climbing through the bars on the side of the jungle gym, but he can't. I laugh a tiny bit and I didn't think he could hear me, but he did, because he says, "you think this is funny?! You are in so much trouble young lady!" He stands down there looking up at me and I smile.

"It's _kind_ of funny," I tell him. He's breathing hard and his face is so red.

"This isn't funny at all! You think I can't climb up there?!"

"Nope," I say smiling at him. I hope he can't. He steps on a bar and starts to climb. Uh-oh. "What are you gonna do when you get up here?" I ask. "_Drag_ me down, or _push_ me down?"

He keeps trying to climb but has to stop when he gets on the second bar. Now he glares at me and gets down. "You _will_ get down from there even if I have to drag you down."

"No you won't. You can't do that. Besides, I'll tell the police if you do that! I'm not coming down for YOU! You're mean and I hate you! I'm only coming down for one of my brothers and that's it!"

Mr. Brick says, "I'm going to tell Ms. Trent I found you and then I'll be right back out here!"

I watch him walk away. He's walking fast and his shirt is untucked and all of a sudden I realize I'm in BIG trouble! What am I doing?! "Wait!" I yell. "I'll come down! Mr. Brick! I'll come down!" He turns around and looks at me so I yell, "just promise me I won't be in BIG trouble, just a _little_ bit of trouble."

"Now I think _that's_ funny!" He yells, and he turns back around and starts walking away.

Darn! I guess I'd better just stay up here then. Maybe I should think about what I did. I guess that's the first thing Adam will say is that I _didn't_ think. I start to cry. I don't know how to fix this! I don't know what to do! I'm not supposed to be up here, I'm not supposed to hide, I'm not supposed to tell Mr. Brick no, I'm not supposed to yell at him, I'm already in trouble for fighting, I don't know what to do. Why does Mr. Brick have to be so mean! Why'd he have to say I'm a bad friend? I don't get to think anymore because I hear a scraping sound. I look over at the classrooms and see Mr. Brick coming and he's carrying a ladder with him. He's not really _carrying_ it though. It's more like he's dragging it. I keep watching and I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it! He looks so funny! He has to stop to take a break and then he starts dragging it across the playground again. Oh, I am in so much trouble, but he looks so funny! When he finally gets the ladder over here he looks up at me.

"Are you going to come down now, or do I have to climb up there?"

I think about that. I kinda want to see how he's gonna get up here. "I'm not coming down."

He sighs and moves the ladder so it's leaning against the jungle gym. He looks up at the ladder and starts climbing.

"Be careful, you don't want to fall," I tell him when the ladder wobbles a little bit. He stops and glares at me. "What?" I ask. "I don't want you to hurt yourself." Then I say quietly, "even though I don't like you." He didn't hear me say that and he starts climbing again. "Um, Mr. Brick? What are you gonna do when you get to the top of the ladder?" He stops again and looks at the top of the jungle gym. I don't think he thought this through. It's not like he can reach me from the sides. He's gonna have to climb onto the top of the jungle gym and then over it to get to me. He climbs to the top of the ladder and looks at me. I shrug my shoulders and ask, "now what?"

"Now what?!" Mr. Brick yells. "Now you come over here and climb down the ladder!"

Huh? What's he talking about? "I'm not stuck. I can get down from here all by myself. I can even jump down from here if I'm really careful."

"Then jump down!"

"No!"

I hear my name being called so I look over towards the classrooms. It's Crane!

Mr. Brick sees him too because he says, "good. Now your brother can pull you down!" Mr. Brick climbs down and by the time he gets to the bottom, Crane is standing next to it.

"What's going on?" He asks. Crane looks at me, then at the principal, and then back at me again. He keeps doing that because neither one of is saying anything. Finally Mr. Brick says, "what's going on? I'll tell you what's going on! Your sister is disrespectful, disobedient, and pretty much impossible to deal with!"

That makes me mad even though I'm not exactly sure what those first two words mean. "I am not!" I yell and I throw my book at him. "You're mean! I hate you Mr. Brick!"

"Heidi, come down," Crane says. He's not yelling which is good, but his face looks really serious.

"No!"

"See," Mr. Brick yells, "this is what I have to deal with every day! Get down here now young lady!"

"No! I'm not coming down for you!"

"Will you come down for me?" Crane asks.

Mr. Brick yells at Crane, "get her down here now! I don't care if you have to pull her down, but you need to get her down now!"

Crane looks shocked. "Can you calm down for a minute, Mr..., Brick, is it? I am not going to _pull_ my sister down from there." Crane is talking very calmly. He doesn't know my principal that well.

"You get your sister down here now!" Mr. Brick yells again, and then he looks up at me again. "You get down here right now Heidi! If your brother isn't going to pull you down, I 'AM'!"

"You already tried that!" I remind him. "I told you, I AM _NOT_ COMING DOWN FOR _YOU_!"

"You get your butt down here right now!" He yells again. "If you think being suspended for a week was bad, let's see what you think about being expelled!"

That makes me cry. I didn't think about that. Adam will be _so_ mad!

"Whoa!" Crane says. "Look, Mr. Brick, why don't you let me talk to my sister. Let me find out from her what's going on."

I don't think Mr. Brick liked him saying that. "It doesn't matter what _she_ thinks is going on! She needs to get down here now and _I'll_ tell you what's going on! This little girl is getting expelled!"

"I think this is getting way out of hand," Crane says calmly. "Just let me talk to her. Heidi, come on down so we can talk."

This is such a big mess! I can't stop crying. "No, I don't want to come down while _he's_ here."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Mr. Brick yells.

"Can you please let me talk to my sister?!" Crane says to him. Then he says calmly, "I'm trying to get her to come down, but it's not going to work if you keep yelling at her. Give us a few minutes to talk."

"Ok! You have two minutes to talk to her and get her down here!" He yells at Crane.

"I can guarantee you this is going to take more than two minutes," Crane tells him.

"I'm not talking while he's here!" I yell down to Crane.

Crane looks at Mr. Brick and Mr. Brick glares back at him. Then Mr. Brick says, "fine! Get her down and bring her to the office!"

"Thank you."

Mr. Brick walks over to the ladder and lifts it away from the jungle gym. Then he starts dragging it back to wherever he got it from and I look down at Crane.

"Come down now, Heidi," Crane says.

"I can't!" I cry.

"Why not?"

"Because I did something bad and I don't know how to fix it!"

"Maybe I can help you fix it."

I look down at him and then untuck the bottom of my shirt and wipe my face with it. My nose is running and my cheeks are all wet from all the crying I'm doing. "I can't come down," I tell him and then I cover my face with my hands and cry into them. I can't look at Crane because I feel so bad.

"If you won't come down, then I'll climb up there."

I move my hands and yell, "no! Don't drag me down!"

"Heidi," Crane says calmly, "I'm not going to drag you down. I just want to talk." He climbs up the jungle gym and over the top until he's next to me. I cover my face with my hands again and cry. Crane puts his hand on top of my head and brings it down gently to my back and starts rubbing my back. "I'd hug you if I could, but I think we'd both fall if I did that."

"Crane, I'm sorry," I cry.

"I know."

"I don't know what to do."

"I know. You've gotten yourself into a big mess, haven't you?"

I nod my head while I continue to cry into my hands. Crane keeps rubbing my back. "Adam's going to be so mad at me!"

"Hey," Crane says softly. "Why don't you tell me what happened. Let's start with that."

"I got mad at Mr. Brick." Then I uncover my face and look up at Crane. "Please don't take me to the office."

"I'm not taking you to the office. We're just talking right now. Why don't you tell me why you got mad at him."

"He said I wasn't a good friend for Denise."

Crane is quiet for a little before he says, "Heidi, he shouldn't have said that."

"No?"

"No. He shouldn't have said he was going to drag you down from here either. Heidi, what do you say we get down from here now? I really want to hug you and then we can go sit on that bench over there and talk."

"Do you promise you won't take me to the office?"

"I promise. You can trust me Heidi. I won't take you to the office until _you're_ ready." He lifts my chin up. "Now get down so I can hug you."

We both climb down and since he's tall, he's able to jump down before I can get down and he takes me off the jungle gym and holds me tight. I cry hard now on his shoulder, and hug him tight. We stay that way for a while before he carries me over to a nearby bench and sits down with me. I start to calm down.

"I'm sorry Crane. I'm in big trouble. I did so many bad things, but I just got so mad at Mr. Brick. He's gonna expel me!" Now I start crying hard again.

"Let's let Adam worry about that..,"

"Adam's gonna be so mad!"

"Heidi, let's talk about you and Mr. Brick. Ok?"

"Ok."

"He shouldn't have said you were a bad friend to Denise. You're a good friend to her. You know that right?" I nod my head. "Good," he says. "I think Mr. Brick was angry and he let his anger get the best of him."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, I think he needs to calm down. I think he needs some time to think about everything that was said and everything that happened. I think you need to do that too. This situation got way out of hand and the best way to fix it right now is for you to come home and for both of you to think about this over the weekend. On Monday, I think Adam and Mr. Brick need to talk, and then I think Mr. Brick, you, and Adam need to talk and get this all sorted out. The weekend will be a good break for everyone to clear their heads. So, why don't we go home now?"

"I don't want to go to the office."

"You don't have to. I'll go and tell Mr. Brick I'm taking you home and that he can talk to Adam on Monday."

"But I don't want to go anywhere _near_ the office right now."

"You can wait for me in the jeep. Ok?"

I like that idea. "Ok."

"Good! Let's go home."

We both get up and Crane hugs me again and I say, "thank you Crane. You helped me a lot."

"That's what big brothers are here for. I love you Heidi, and I will always help you when you need me too."

"I love you Crane."

We hug some more and then I hold Crane's hand as we walk back towards the classrooms. He walks out to the parking lot and helps me into the jeep.

"I'm scared Crane. What if Mr. Brick comes out here to talk to me? What if he's mad and...,"

Crane interrupts me. "He's not going to come out here. Don't worry." Before he closes the door he says, "it's going to be ok." I start crying again. "Hey," he says softly, "trust me. I'll tell Mr. Brick I'm taking you home and he can talk to you on Monday, and when we get home I'll talk to Adam. Ok?"

I look up at him and he smiles at me. I wipe my cheeks and nod my head. He closes my door and I watch him walk over towards the office. I hope he's right about all that.


	15. Chapter 15

The drive home was quiet. When we pull up to the house and Crane stops the jeep I put my hand on his arm. "Crane do you think Adam's going to be _really_ mad at me?" My eyes are watering and tears start to fall down my cheeks.

Crane puts his hands under my chin to lift it up and then he wipes away my tears with his thumbs. "I honestly don't know, Heidi. I do know I want to talk to him first."

"Are you gonna make _me_ tell him what I did?"

"No, I'm going to tell him this time." He kisses my forehead and says, "get out of the jeep and I'll go find Adam."

"You don't have to go find him. He's walking over here from the barn." I get out of the jeep and stand next to it while Crane comes around and stands next to me. I move so I'm a little behind him.

"I see you got sent home from school," Adam says.

I nod my head.

"I guess we expected that," he says. He looks at me. "It looks like you've been crying. What's wrong?" He looks at Crane and says, "did she get suspended besides getting sent home?"

"Well..., not exactly," Crane says.

Adam glares at me and then at Crane. "What do you mean, _not exactly_?"

"Why don't we go over by the fence to talk," Crane says. "Heidi, go wait over by the house."

I run towards the house and I hear Adam say, "what's wrong Crane?"

I run up the porch steps and sit on the top step. I can see Adam and Crane walking a little ways to the fence and they stop when they reach it. I can't hear what they're saying, but I can see their faces and they both look serious right now.

"SHE WHAT?" I hear Adam yell. Oh no. He looks over at me and he looks really, really mad. When Adam starts to walk towards me, Crane holds him back and keeps talking.

"WHAT?" He yells again. He kicks the fence post and yells a few more 'whats' and rubs his forehead with his hand. Then he starts pacing and talking. They're both talking now. I wish I could hear what they're saying, but I know from the look on Adam's face that he's not happy. They talk for a while and then Adam starts yelling again. He's not yelling as loud as he was before so I can't hear what he's saying, but he looks over at me. Now he starts walking towards me.

"Adam wait!" Crane yells. Adam doesn't stop. He's walking fast and glaring and making a bee line towards me. I stand up and think about running but my feet feel like they're glued to the porch. I start crying as Adam gets closer. Crane is following behind him just as fast. When Adam gets really close I start saying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Adam, I'm sorry!" I cry as he walks across the grass towards the porch steps. His face looks so mad! "Adam, I'm sorry!" I look at his eyes as he climbs up the porch steps two at a time. I put my hand on the railing and grab onto it. "I'm sorry!" The look in his eyes is so angry looking, but...he's not looking at me. He walks right past me to the front door, opens it wide and keeps on walking into the house with Crane following right behind him.

I walk to the doorway and stand in it. Adam is at the big desk in the living room looking through the phone book.

"Adam, I think you should wait," Crane says.

Adam ignores him and picks up the phone. He dials and waits. He looks mad but he's not staring at anything. It looks like he's staring into space, but with a mad stare. "I'd like to talk to Mr. Brick!" He sorta yells into the phone. "Adam McFadden!" He waits and then Mr. Brick must've started talking because Adam yells, "no, you listen to me! You are not going to expel my da...sister!"

Was he gonna say daughter?

"She's ten years old and in fourth grade!" He's listening again and then he yells, "no! If you do that I will fight you! I will take this to the school board!" He's quiet for a second and then he yells, "you can suspend Heidi, but you will not threaten my child with expulsion!"

I wonder what that means.

He starts again. "You won't _pull_ her down from the jungle gym, and you won't ever tell her to get her _butt_ down again! And don't you EVER tell her she's not a good friend!" Now he's listening.

I look upstairs because I hear a door open. Hannah is standing in her doorway with her robe on. She rushes downstairs and over to Adam. He shakes his head at her. "Well you'd better figure out what you're gonna do because she's not going anywhere!" He's quiet, but only for a second. "You let me worry about how I'm going to discipline her..., what?! Oh, don't you worry! I'll be there! You just make sure you have an apology ready and I'll make sure she understands what she did was wrong!" He looks really angry as he listens. "That's your problem!" He yells into the phone and then he hangs up by slamming the receiver down. "Sometimes I hate that man!" He yells.

"Adam," Hannah says, "what's wrong? What happened?"

I start to slowly back away from the doorway until I'm out on the porch, and then I run down the steps and towards the river. If Adam was that mad at Mr. Brick, I bet he's gonna be even madder at me.

* * *

I ran most of the way to the river so I'm really tired. I sit on a rock to catch my breath. I don't know what to do. A part of me thinks the best thing to do is to run away. I haven't done that in a long time. But, another part of me thinks that's not going to work. It never does. They always find me, and then what? I messed up really bad this time. I pick up a rock that's the size of a baseball and bang it against the rock I'm sitting on. The small rock is one of those shale kind of rocks that has thin layers you can peel away. It gives me something to do while I think.

So, if Crane already told Adam what happened, he won't have to ask me. If he _does_ ask me, I won't have to lie. I just have to tell him the whole truth. I wonder how many things I did wrong. Let's see, if I don't count fighting yesterday, and just count the things I did today, I ...didn't tell Mr. Brick I was kicking Gary but, that shouldn't count because I didn't purposely not tell him about it, I just forgot. I guess I'd better count it though. That's one. I hold a finger up. So then I ...yelled at him when he said Denise hit Gary. I yelled at him more than once, but I'll just count that as one thing wrong. I hold another finger up. I ...got my reading book after he told me I couldn't, I ...didn't go back to the office, _and_ I went out to the playground ..., which I guess was like hiding. Then I didn't come down from the jungle gym. That makes, one, two, three, four, five things. I did five wrong things.

I guess the best thing to do is tell Adam the five things and don't lie about them. Then I just have to see what he does. I wonder what that will be. How long will he ground me for this time? Or worse! What if he ..., no, I don't want to think about it. Whatever happens, happens. I did something wrong and now I'm gonna get in trouble for it. All I can do is cry. I throw what's left of the rock down on the ground and cover my face with my hands.

"Heidi?"

I jump up and turn around to see Adam standing near me. I guess I didn't hear him because I was crying. I'm scared so I start to back away. He's not coming towards me, he's just standing there looking at me, so I think if I run, I might be able to find a place to hide before he can catch me.

"I didn't come out here to chase you, so please don't run away from me," he says. "I just came out here to talk. You must've gotten a good head start on me, because I thought I'd catch up to you on your way here."

"I ran," I say quietly. I wipe the tears off my cheeks and stare at him. Then I look down at the ground because I'm afraid. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean, what am I going to do?"

"You know, what are you going to _do_ to me?"

When he doesn't answer I start to cry again as I look down at the ground.

"Heidi, look at me."

I look up and I look closely at his face. He doesn't look mad. That's weird. He almost looks a little sad. Then he says, "Heidi, I'm not going to _do_ anything to you. I came out here to talk to you and that's what I'd like to do."

I wonder if that means he's going to yell.

"Let's sit down over here." He walks towards the rock I was sitting on and sits down. "You can sit on this other rock in front of me," he says pointing to a rock. It's smaller than the one he's sitting on, but it's only a few feet away from his. I walk over to it slowly and sit down. This kind of feels like how we sit in the living room when he wants to talk to me. When he has me sit on the couch and he sits in front of me on the coffee table. It feels like that. We're sitting very close. I look down at the ground.

"Crane told me what happened at school today."

I nod my head. He's quiet and neither one of says anything for a long time. Then I say, "I'm sorry," really, really, quietly. It's almost a whisper.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" He asks.

Normally this is the point where I would ask him what he already knows in case he doesn't know the whole story. That way I won't accidentally tell him too much. This time feels different though. I'm pretty sure he knows everything, but I also feel like telling him everything. "Adam, I did stuff I wasn't supposed to do." I look up at him now and look into his eyes. They aren't glaring at me, or looking mad at me, or anything bad like that. They don't even look disappointed. His eyes look sad. I know that's not the right word, but I think the word to describe them would be, concerned. I think I know what that word means, and I think that's what his eyes look like.

"Adam, I did five things wrong today." I hold up one finger and tell him the first thing. He listens and doesn't say anything when I finish telling him. Then I hold up two fingers and tell him the next thing I did wrong. I do that for all five things and the whole time he just listens. He doesn't yell at me or anything. He just listens. When I'm done telling him the fifth thing I wait for him to say something. His eyes just keep looking at me sadly and he doesn't say anything. Finally he says, "it sounds like you've been thinking about this."

My eyes start to water and I nod my head. "I'm sorry Adam. I didn't think before I did all those things. I'm so sorry!" I cry. "I know you're disappointed and I'm sorry!" I can't take it anymore! I need a hug! I leap up and practically fall the few steps towards him. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me while I cry. My eyes can't stop crying. I just keep crying and crying and crying. He kisses the top of my head and holds me and just lets me cry.

I cry for a long time. I cry because I feel bad, I cry because of what I did, and I cry because I disappointed him. When I'm all done crying Adam hugs me a little tighter and says really quietly, "oh Heidi, what am I going to do with you?" He starts rubbing my back. "You are so quick tempered. You fight, you do things without thinking, you say things without thinking and I just love you so, so, much!" He stops hugging me and lifts my chin up to look into my eyes. "Do you know that Heidi? Do you know how much I love you? Do you know how happy I am that you didn't run from me just now? That you didn't yell at me, or pretend you didn't know what you did was wrong, or lie to me and not tell me about _everything_ you did?"

I nod my head as best as I can with him holding my chin up. "I'm sorry."

"What you did was so, so, wrong. You can't do the things you did today. You just can't."

I start crying again and say, "I know. I'm sorry Adam."

"You _know_ I don't want you to fight or hide from Mr. Brick, or worse, not get down from the jungle gym when he asked you to. You broke a lot of school rules today and Mr. Brick is very angry."

"Is he gonna expel me?" I don't think I want to know the answer to that.

"I don't know yet. If he tries I'm going to fight him on it, but he's the principal. He can't have kids at school doing what you did today. It's not safe. He needs you to do what he tells you to do. _I_ need you to do what he tells you to do. What you did on the jungle gym today was not ok 'at all'."

"I'm sorry. It just kept getting worse and worse, and he kept getting madder and madder. When I realized what I was doing was wrong I was scared and I didn't know what to do. Mr. Brick was so mad and he said mean things."

"I know. I heard. I'm not happy with him right now and unfortunately I lost my temper with him on the phone."

"I heard," I tell him.

"But Heidi, I'm really not happy with you. You are going to have to apologize to him. I am too, and he should apologize to us. I wish he hadn't told you that you were a bad friend. You know you're a good friend, right?"

"Yes. I think so."

"You are."

"Adam? Mr. Brick didn't believe me, or Denise when we said she didn't hit Gary. She really didn't hit him too. Honest." I start to cry again. "Adam, she got sent home too. It's not fair! I want to find out if she got sent home, or if Mr. Brick believed her when her mom came to get her. Can I call her?"

Adam hugs me. "See, that's a good friend. You're worried about her." He kisses the top of my head. "Yes you can call her when we get back to the house."

"Thank you!" I wrap my arms around his neck so I can hug him tighter. Then I let go and move so I'm standing in front of him. "Adam, what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

I sigh. I'm not sure I want to know the answer to this. "I mean, are you going to ground me, or...?"

"I honestly haven't decided yet. I'm going to wait until I talk to Mr. Brick on Monday."

"I have to wait until Monday to find out?" I ask. That's a long time! A whole weekend!

"I need to think about this, Heidi. I need to think about what's the best way to get through to you right now so you don't do this again."

I'm not really sure what that means. I'm also not sure if I can wait that long to find out. My stomach growls and Adam hears it.

"Are you hungry?" I nod. "Me too. Let's go have some lunch." He stands up and I take his hand as we start walking away from the river.

"Adam?"

"What?"

"You're gonna be a good dad someday." Someday soon I think as I think about Hannah being pregnant. I smile.

"I am a dad Heidi," he says while we're walking.

"No, I mean a _real_ dad."

He stops walking and picks me up. "I _am_ a _real_ dad." He tickles my side and I laugh and he starts walking again.

"You're just a big, big brother!" I laugh and put my hands on his cheeks and smooch them so his face looks funny.

He shakes my hands off his face and says, "oh yeah?! Well you're just a little, little, _little_ sister!" He throws me up over his shoulder so my head and body are hanging down his back and I laugh.

"I'm not little!" I yell and I laugh as I start punching his back lightly and we walk back to the house.

* * *

I race Adam to the front door when he puts me down, and I win. I'm pretty sure he 'let' me win though.

"Can I call Denise?"

"Yes."

We walk inside and he goes into the kitchen where Brian, Crane and Hannah are already eating. I walk to the big desk and pick up the phone. I have Denise's number memorized even though we don't talk on the phone a lot. We'd rather talk at school than sit around talking at home. I have to know if she got in trouble though, so I dial her number. Her mom answers and I ask her if I can talk to Denise.

"Sure Heidi. Are you ok? Denise was worried about you."

"I'm fine. I wish Mr. Brick would've believed us though."

"Me too," she says. "I'll get Denise."

Denise must not be in trouble with her mom.

"Hi Heidi."

"Hi. Are you ok?"

"Yes. My mom straightened everything out. She was kind of mad at Mr. Brick. Especially when she found out he wasn't believing me, or you. She got _super_ mad when he told her you might not be the best friend for me."

"She did? Was she mad at me?" I ask.

"No! She told Mr. Brick you were a great friend for me and she likes you very much. She told Mr. Brick maybe he doesn't know you. She said it just like this, 'maybe you should get to know Heidi McFadden a little better before you start telling my daughter she's not a good friend.' She said it just like that!" Denise's voice sounded like her mom's when she said that.

"Wow," I say. "Did he send you home?"

"No. My mom said, 'you're not sending my daughter home today. _I'm_ taking her home _with_ me. But Heidi, what happened to you? You never came back to the office and Mr. Brick was super mad about something. Where'd you go?"

"I went out to the playground. I climbed the jungle gym and wouldn't come down."

"Oh my gosh Heidi!"

"You probably shouldn't tell your mom that," I say.

"Heidi, my mom likes you. She says she trusts me to find good friends. She knows you get into trouble sometimes, especially after Halloween, but she likes you. My dad does too. Are you in a lot of trouble?"

"I don't know yet. Me and Adam are talking to Mr. Brick on Monday. I'll know then. I'm glad you didn't get in trouble Denise. I have to eat lunch now. I hope I see you on Monday."

"Same here. Bye."

"Bye." I hang up the phone and walk into the kitchen.

Everyone looks at me and Adam asks, "is she ok?"

"Yes. Her mom believed her when she said she didn't hit Gary. Mr. Brick told her mom I wasn't a good friend to Denise and Denise's mom got mad at him. She told him I was."

"I can't believe that man!" Crane says.

"I would've loved to have seen him carrying that ladder," Brian says.

I guess Crane told Brian and Hannah what happened.

"I don't think he thought that ladder part through," Crane says.

"No, it was so funny! He ...,"

"Heidi, _none_ of this was funny," Adam says to me and then to Brian and Crane he says, "you can talk about how funny you think this was when little ears aren't listening."

I look down at my plate and smile. That was the end of that conversation. "What are we doing after lunch?" I ask.

Brian and Crane get up. "We'll get back to work on that pump," Brian says.

"We'll join you when we're done eating," Adam tells them.

By we I guess he means me and him. I groan.

"Hey," Adam says to me, "if you don't like it, don't do things at school that get you sent home. Are you feeling better?" He asks Hannah.

"Yes. I'm going to get dressed and bake some cookies," she says.

"Can I help!" I yell.

"No," Adam says.

I glare at him when he's not looking. He's looking at Hannah and when she gets up he gets up and gives her a hug. Then he picks up the rest of his sandwich and says, "let's go Heidi. Bring the rest of your lunch, we're going outside to work. I don't want to hear any complaining either. You're the one that got sent home."

I pick up the rest of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and my apple and glare at the back of his head as I follow him outside.

* * *

"What time is it now?" I ask.

"Two! Now quit asking!" Brian yells.

"When will we be done?" I ask.

"When we're done!" Brian yells.

"But when will that be?"

"Heidi!" Adam yells. "Be quiet and let us finish!"

Fixing the pump is boring. My brothers have tools and they're busy doing something with them. I don't know why I have to be here since they won't let me help anymore.

"Why is it all wet and muddy?" I ask as I jump in a nearby puddle, splashing water and mud all over the place.

"Because the pump is broken," Crane says.

"The whole pump?" I ask as I jump again.

"No."

I guess I'm closer to the pump than I thought, because the next puddle I jump in gets them all wet. I stare at them as they glare at me. "Sorry," I tell them. "I'll go back over there where you told me to stay." I jump in the puddles on my way back to the tractor. I climb up onto it and sit in the seat. I'm not supposed to be sitting in the seat, but no one's paying attention. I look at the controls and pretend to drive. Even this is boring. I jump off the tractor and go back to the pump.

"Now what time is it?" I ask.

"Go away," Adam says.

"Can I go help Hannah now?"

"No!" Adam yells. "Are you ready to help us again, or do you need to go back over there?"

"I'm ready."

"Ok. Get over here and hold this," Adam says and he hands me a pipe.

I take it. "Why do I have to hold it?"

"Because I don't want to lose it in the mud."

"Ok." The pipe is small and when Brian asks for it I give it to him and Adam hands me another one. This one is long, like a baseball bat. I swing it through the air. It's perfect!

"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Brian yells.

"Sorry." I don't think they he heard me though because now all three of them are picking up something big and heavy on the pump. They're talking to each other about what they're doing. I take a step back from them and pick up a small rock. I throw the rock up a little and swing the pipe. I miss. "Strike one!" I yell. I do it again. "Strike two!" I keep swinging until I get to strike five. I pick up a bigger rock and throw it up in the air and swing the pipe. I hit it!

"Ow!" Brian yells. He almost drops the side he's carrying, but Adam and Crane help so they don't drop the whole thing. "You're lucky I have to hold on to this thing right now or I'd go over there and knock _you_ in the head!" Brian yells.

"Sorry."

"Heidi, get over here," Adam says. "I have a job for you to do now."

I drop the pipe I'm holding in the mud and go over.

"See that box full of pipes?" Adam asks. He points with his head towards a box laying next to him.

"Yes." I look at a box that has small pipe parts in it. They're all muddy.

"Take it over to the hose and rinse all the mud off the parts."

I glare at him and put my hands on my hips. "Is this a _real_ job, or are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Both!" Brian yells. "Get busy!" They're all grunting now as they pick something else up. It must be really heavy.

I pick up the box and carry it a few feet away to the hose. I turn the faucet on and pick up the hose. Nothing comes out. I turn the faucet on all the way and still nothing comes out. "It's not working!" I yell over to them.

"What do you mean?!" Brian yells.

"The hose isn't working! There's no water coming out!"

"Dang it!" Brian yells. They drop what they've been carrying and stare at the pump.

"Now what?!" Adam yells. They're not yelling at each other. I think they're mad at the pump.

"I don't know!" Brian yells.

"We can't afford a new pump," Crane says.

"Maybe Hannah can pay for it," I say. I don't think I should've said that though because Adam looks mad at me now. "What?" I ask. "She works, so she has money. Just ask her for some." They're all three staring at me so I say, "I can ask her if you want me to. How much do you need?"

All of a sudden they all start laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You are," Crane says. Then he says to Adam, "what if we just bought a new part for this pipe right here?"

"I guess that would work. Go see if Mike has one at the shop."

"Can I go too?" I ask.

"No. You're staying right here and helping," Adam says.

"Ok, but when do I actually get to help?"

Adam looks at me and says, "here, you can screw this on." He holds a screw out to me.

I smile and run to him and grab it out of his hand. He hands me the screwdriver and shows me what to do, and I screw it on all by myself.

I spend the rest of the afternoon helping with the pump, or trying to help. It finally works enough to where my brothers are satisfied with it. They say it's not perfect, but it'll do for now. Then we go inside to get washed up for dinner.

* * *

Hannah must be feeling a lot better because after she baked cookies she made dinner. She made chicken pot pies and everyone loves them.

"We've missed you Hannah," Brian says. "And I don't mean that just because we've missed your cooking."

"I'm sorry guys," she says. "I said some really mean things the last time we all had dinner together."

"Forget about it," Crane says. "We're just happy you and Adam aren't fighting anymore. You should take it easy tonight Hannah. Let us clean up the kitchen tonight, you get some rest."

"Yeah," Evan says. "You should put your feet up and rest tonight."

I look around the table and everyone is smiling at each other and I know they're thinking about the baby. I wonder when Adam and Hannah are going to tell us about it.

"What's everyone doing tonight?" Adam asks. "I know some of you are grounded so you'll be staying home."

"I'm going into Sonora with Laura tonight," Brian says.

"What are you gonna do with her?" I tease and smile down at him.

"Yeah Brian," Evan says, "what _are_ you going to do with her?"

"Knock it off," Adam says.

"None of your business," Brian says.

"I'm staying home tonight," Crane says.

"Can we watch tv tonight?" Guthrie asks. "The Dukes of Hazard is on."

"You're grounded," Ford reminds him. "No TV."

I look down at Adam and say, "um Adam? I'm not grounded. Can I watch tv tonight?"

He looks at me very seriously and says, "what do you think?"

I look down at my plate and say, "no."

I listen as everyone starts talking again and when Hannah gets up to get more coffee Guthrie asks, "what happened at school today?"

I look at him and say, "I didn't go back to the office when I was supposed to. Instead I went out to the playground and climbed on top of the jungle gym. When Mr. Brick told me to come down, I said no." Guthrie laughs and I smile at him.

"What'd he do when you said no?" He asks.

"He tried to climb up and take me down."

"He climbed up the jungle gym?" Guthrie laughs hysterically at that.

"No, he _tried_ to climb up it. He couldn't do it so he got a ladder."

He laughs so hard the milk he's drinking comes out of his nose and I laugh hysterically.

Hannah sits down and asks, "what's so funny?" Everyone's looking at us now.

"Heidi said she wouldn't come down from the jungle gym so Mr. Brick got a ladder to get her down." Guthrie laughs. Daniel, Evan and Ford laugh too.

"What?!" Ford asks. "We're you stuck?"

"No." I look down at Adam and he's not laughing. Neither are Crane, Brian and Hannah.

"Why'd he get a ladder then?" Evan asks.

"Because I told him I wouldn't come down."

They all laugh, "so he got a ladder?!" Evan asks.

I look at Adam and he says to them, "what happened wasn't funny."

"Sounds like it was to me," Guthrie says still laughing. "I can just see him trying to climb up it!"

They all laugh again and I say, "first he tried to climb through the jungle gym to get in the middle, but he wouldn't fit through the bars!" Now I laugh.

Guthrie slams his hand down on the table as he laughs.

Adam yells, "enough! Heidi, this isn't funny!"

"But it was Adam!" I yell as I laugh. "You should of seen him dragging the ladder across the blacktop. When he set it against the jungle gym I asked him what he was gonna do when he got to the top. It was so funny!" We all laugh. Even Crane and Brian are smiling as they think about it. "He climbed all the way up to the top of the ladder and then he didn't know what to do. It was so funny!" I look at Guthrie and we laugh. "He told me to come over and climb down the ladder!"

Everyone but Adam thinks that's funny. "How would you have felt if he fell off that ladder?" Everyone stops laughing and they all look at me.

"I would've felt bad," I say quietly. But then I say, "but I didn't tell him to get a ladder! He did that all by himself! It's not my fault if ...he ...doesn't...," I stop talking because Adam is glaring at me now. "What?" I ask.

"You need to stop talking now," he says. "I can see we're going to have to talk about this some more later tonight."

I look down at my plate and push the peas around with my fork. I hate Mr. Brick.

* * *

After dinner is done and the kitchen is cleaned up, Guthrie and I go upstairs to make a phone call. He has the phone book hidden under his shirt and we go into the boys' bedroom. We drag the phone in with us and shut the door.

Guthrie takes the phone book out and looks up Becky's number.

"Remember, we have to make sure Cleo and Allison are coming too," I tell him.

"I know, I know! Quit reminding me! Remember, this is _you're_ dumb plan!"

"Hey, it's not dumb! We're doing something nice for Daniel, Evan and Ford," I remind him. "Just think how happy they're gonna be!"

"You always say everyone's gonna be happy when your plan works, but no one's ever happy after one of your plans. They never work!" He yells.

"Sh! Just call!"

He dials Becky's number and waits for an answer. "Can I talk to Becky please?" He asks. "Thank you." He covers the phone with his hand and whispers to me, "someone's getting her." Then he says, "hello? Hi Becky, this is Guthrie McFadden, Evan's brother." He listens for a few seconds. "Well, the reason I'm calling is to make sure you're still coming to our surprise party tomorrow night." He listens and then smiles really big. "Cleo and Allison too?" He asks. He looks at me and nods his head. I smile. "Ok," he says into the phone. "Ok..., ok, bye."

When he hangs up the phone I say, "well, what'd she say?!"

"She said everyone's coming and they'll be here at eight o'clock. She even said they were bringing food and drinks with them! It's gonna be like a real party!"

"It's gonna be so much fun!" I say and I clap my hands.

"Just as long as all three of them are gone before Adam gets home."

"They'll be gone way before midnight," I tell him. I can't wait for tomorrow night!


	16. Chapter 16

After Guthrie and I made our phone call to Becky we run downstairs to see what everyone else is doing. Hannah is sitting on the couch with her feet in Adam's lap and he's massaging them. Crane is bringing Hannah some tea while Ford and Evan finish cleaning up the kitchen. Daniel has his guitar and he's working on a new song. Sometimes he likes it when his band doesn't have to play on a weekend because he says it gives him time to work on new songs. I walk over to Hannah and sit down on the floor in front of the couch.

"Are you feeling better?" I ask her.

"Yes, much better. I think if I get some sleep tonight, I should be fine to go to the dance tomorrow night. How's your finger Heidi? I think those stitches should be ready to come out."

"Do you need your kit?" Crane asks.

"Sure."

Crane gets Hannah's first aid kit from the bedroom and she removes my stitches. "Looks like the doctor fixed your cut nicely," she says.

"Yep," I say while looking at my cut. You can hardly see the scar.

Guthrie jumps on my back and says, "let's wrestle!"

I try to get up and pull him off my back, but he's stronger than me. "Help me Crane!" I yell.

Crane comes over and picks Guthrie right off my back. We're all laughing. I love wrestling with my brothers. Soon Evan and Ford are playing and Crane moves the coffee table out of the way. I jump on Ford's back and he spins around in circles really fast until I get dizzy and have to get off. I laugh and fall on the ground. I lay here for a while watching everyone.

Adam and Hannah are smiling at all of us. Daniel put his guitar away and he's trying to pin Crane. Guthrie is trying to pin both Evan and Ford at the same time. The only person missing is Brian. Even though I wish he was here, I'm glad he's out on a date with Laura, instead of just hanging out somewhere and meeting girls.

As soon as I'm not dizzy anymore I get up and help Guthrie pin Evan and Ford. It only takes Ford a minute to pin me and Evan's got Guthrie pinned now too. I giggle as Ford tickles me and I yell at him to stop. He won't stop unless I say uncle, and I'm not ready to say that yet. I try to tickle him while he tickles me and I can't take it anymore. "Uncle!"

He immediately stops and gets off me. Pretty soon everyone's sitting on the floor trying to catch our breath. We're all sweaty too.

"Hey, can we play Monopoly?" Guthrie asks.

"Yeah, let's play it!" I yell and I jump up and run to the bookcase where we keep the board games. I grab it off the shelf and carry it into the kitchen. "Who's playing?" I yell. Everyone except Hannah and Adam want to play. I set the game on the table and open the box.

"I'm in charge of properties!" Guthrie calls out.

"Banker!" Crane yells.

"I'm the car!" I yell. I'm always the car.

We get the game set up and Crane passes out the money. Before we roll the dice to see who goes first, Crane says, "listen up you two," he's talking to me and Guthrie, "no cheating."

"I know," we both say.

"No quitting if you don't get Boardwalk, Heidi," he says.

"I know," I tell him.

"And no crying either."

"Hey! I only did that once!"

Then he says to everyone else, "no one can trade properties with Heidi unless we all think it's a fair trade."

"We know," everyone says.

We roll to see who goes first. Guthrie wins and we play. I buy everything I land on. When I land on Park Place I get excited.

"Remember," Crane says, "you can't cry and quit if someone else gets Boardwalk."

"I know I won't."

After a while some of the railroads and Boardwalk are the only properties left. No one has a monopoly yet, but I'm sure deals will start being made soon. Each time I get near Boardwalk I get excited. I never land on it but, Daniel does. Everyone looks at me when he buys it.

"What? I'm not crying," I tell them. "I'm not gonna quit either."

"You can't quit if he won't trade it with you either," Evan says.

"I won't." But when it's my turn I ask Daniel for a trade. "I'll give you both my red properties if you give me Boardwalk."

He laughs. "I don't want your red properties. What am I gonna do with those?" He doesn't have the other one.

"You could trade them with Crane," I tell him. "He's got the other property."

"No."

"Please? I'll give you my railroads too." Daniel has the other two railroads.

"Hmmm," Daniel says, "let me think about that."

"You can't give her Boardwalk!" Evan says.

"Why not? If I have her railroads I've got all four. That's two hundred bucks each time someone lands on them. Besides, Heidi doesn't have any money to put houses on Park Place or Boardwalk anyway."

"I guess you're right," Crane says.

"Ok, here you go." He hands me Boardwalk and I give him my properties.

"Roll the dice Heidi," Ford says.

"Hold on, it's still my turn," I tell them and I give them a big smile.

"Roll," Crane says. "You don't have any money."

"I know." I turn to Guthrie. "Guthrie can I borrow some money?" He's got lots of it.

"How much?"

"Enough to put four houses on each property."

Evan and Ford groan. "Don't do it," they tell Guthrie. "It's gonna be expensive if you land on it."

"Not for Guthrie," I tell them. "Guthrie, you can land on my property anytime and you won't have to pay me anything."

"What!" Evan yells.

"Ok!" Guthrie says. He takes my Boardwalk card and figures out how much money I need.

"See, this is why I don't like playing with them!" Evan says.

"It's just a game," Crane reminds him.

I put my houses on and roll the dice. I land on 'go to jail'. "Yes!" I love going to jail. I drive my car across the board to jail. Pretty soon everyone's traded properties so we all have a monopoly. I lose first because I don't have any money when I land on Evan's property. Guthrie doesn't have any money and no one else will let me borrow any so I'm out. That's ok, I was getting really bored of playing anyway. I get up to go see what Adam and Hannah are doing.

They're still sitting on the couch. Except Hannah is leaning against Adam's chest now and he has his arms around her.

"Whatcha guys doing?" I ask. I jump on the couch and sit down next to Hannah.

"Just sitting here," Hannah says.

"The whole time?" I ask. "That's all you've been doing?"

"We're just enjoying each others company," she says. She smiles up at Adam.

"Sounds boring to me," I tell them. "Can I have popcorn and soda?" I ask.

"No," she says. "It's too late to have soda."

"It's way past your bedtime," Adam says. "I let you stay up because you were playing a game, but now you need to take a bath and get ready for bed."

"Ok." I jump up and run over to the stairs.

"Make sure you wash your hair too," Hannah reminds me.

"Ok," I yell as I run up the stairs to take my bath.

* * *

When I'm all ready for bed I get up on top of my bed and sit cross legged on it while I wait for Adam to come upstairs and tuck me in. When he comes in he sits down on the bed and looks at me.

"We need to talk about Mr. Brick and the ladder," he says.

I smile. "Ok. What about it?"

"I don't like how you think it was so funny," he says.

"But it _was_ funny!" I laugh. "He dragged the ladder across the playground. That was really funny."

"It's not funny, Heidi."

"Yes it is! You weren't there, it was _very_ funny!" I keep laughing.

"Stop it Heidi, this isn't funny."

I can't stop laughing though. Why doesn't he understand how funny this is?

"Stop laughing," he says again.

I try. I finally stop and keep my laughing to a smile and a giggle.

"You know, I don't like how you think this is so funny," he says. He starts saying something else, but I'm not listening.

Mr. Brick looked really funny. I don't know how everything that happened with the ladder couldn't be funny. Especially when he climbed to the top of it and didn't know what to do once he got up there. That was really funny. I can't believe he thought I would come over and climb down the ladder. I smile as I think about it.

"Heidi!" Adam yells so I look at him. "You're not even listening to me are you?"

I hate that question. If he knows I'm not listening to him, why does he ask? I groan and fall backwards so my head hits my headboard with a thud.

"Sit up and listen to me," he says as he takes my hands and pulls me back up.

"I am listening to you. You said it's not funny."

"What else did I say?"

I sigh. "I don't know, I figured that was it. I'm tired now, can I go to sleep?"

"In a minute. I want you to listen to...,"

"Adam!" I yell and I pound my fists on my bed. "It was funny! You weren't there! Mr. Brick looked really, really funny, and there's nothing you can say to make it _not_ funny!"

Now he glares at me. "Don't talk to me like that."

"Sorry."

"Listen to me..,"

"I can't hear anything you say. I don't understand what you're talking about when you say it wasn't funny. I saw it with my own eyes and it looked really funny." Now I cry. Why doesn't he understand that?

He sighs. "I guess you really don't understand." He lifts my chin up and says, "what _you_ did today wasn't funny. I guess Mr. Brick probably did look funny to you. If I was there I wouldn't have laughed at Mr. Brick, instead I would've been very mad at _you_."

I take the bottom of my pajama shirt and wipe my face with it. "Sorry."

"I don't want to hear you laughing about it anymore, ok?"

I nod my head and say, "ok. Will you read me a story now?"

"Yes, get under the covers." He stands up so I can get under the covers and he picks a book out from the small pile of books on my chair. It's a story about a girl and her horse. I like this story.

When he's done reading it I ask, "what are we going to do tomorrow?"

"You're going to help your brothers muck out the horse stalls in the barn."

"Then what?"

"Then I'll find something else for you to do."

"Something fun? Or a job?"

"A job."

"It's not gonna be a job with you, Brian or Crane is it? Because I'm getting really tired of _helping_ you. It's not fun to help you guys. You get mad to easily."

He smiles at me. "We do? I hadn't noticed."

"What?! All you did was yell at me today!"

He puts the covers all the way up under my chin. "Maybe that's because you were fooling around instead of working. I seem to remember getting splashed with mud, Brian got hit in the head with a rock, you dropped a lot of pipe parts in the mud and you kept asking what time it was."

"All things a bored ten year old girl would do, right?" I ask while I smile up at him.

He kisses my forehead and says, "I'll make sure you're not bored tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

After he gets up I turn to face the wall and close my eyes. It's late and I'm tired. It doesn't take long before I fall asleep.

* * *

I'm excited when I wake up in the morning. Tonight Hannah, Adam, Brian and Crane are all going out on dates _and_ the special surprise party is tonight! I jump out of bed and get dressed. I can smell bacon _and_ cinnamon rolls! This day is gonna be great!

I run downstairs and into the kitchen. Evan, Ford and Guthrie are sitting at the table and Hannah is pouring orange juice into some glasses.

"Good morning," Hannah says and she laughs. "Slow down, there's plenty of food."

"Good morning. I'm just excited because you're all going out tonight!" I get a plate and sit down.

"Not all of us are going out," Evan reminds me.

"But we're gonna have fun tonight. Maybe we can play Monopoly," I say, and me and Guthrie look at each other and smile. "Who won last night?" I ask.

"Crane," Ford says. "He bought all your properties after you left, and cleaned us out."

"Where is everyone?" I ask.

"Out working on the ranch," Hannah says. "You guys are mucking out the barn and you need to be done before lunch."

"Why?"

"Adam says we just have to be," Guthrie says. "He said he doesn't want us goofing around today because there's a lot of work that has to get done before they leave tonight."

"Hannah! Can we have TV dinners tonight? Please?" I ask.

"Why?" Guthrie asks. "It's not like we can watch tv while we eat them."

I glare at him and whisper, "why can't we watch tv? Daniel, Evan and Ford will let us."

Guthrie smiles. "Can we Hannah?" He asks.

"No, those are expensive, and I don't want to go to the store today. Eat your breakfast so you can get started on your chores."

We all finish up and get to work.

* * *

By lunchtime Ford, Evan, Guthrie and I have our chores all done and the barn stalls mucked. We go inside to get washed up for lunch and meet Hannah in the living room. She's carrying a big box.

"Good, you guys are done," she says. "Ford help me take this box of lunch stuff out to the truck. Evan go get the ice chest sitting on the kitchen table."

"Where are we going?" Guthrie asks.

"Your brothers need some extra help so I'm bringing them their lunch. Ford and Evan are going to stay to help. They've got a lot of work to finish up if they want to be ready by five-thirty tonight. The dinner starts at six."

I groan. "I told Adam I didn't want to help them today because all they do is yell at me!"

"You two are staying here," Hannah says.

"By ourselves?" Guthrie asks.

"Yes. I'll be back soon. Your lunch is on the table." She walks out the front door with Evan and Ford and shuts the door behind her. Guthrie and I look at each other and shrug our shoulders.

"I guess we should eat lunch," I tell him.

We walk into the kitchen and sit down at the table. The house seems really quiet with just the two of us. "Hey, we should do something fun," Guthrie says.

"Like what?"

"We should go on an adventure. We haven't done that in a long time!"

"Yeah! We could take our lunch and...Guthrie! We can go hunt for Bigfoot! You could take me to the place you guys went to the other night."

"You can't really hunt for Bigfoot in the daytime."

"Maybe we could find where he sleeps."

"Ok. Let's get our BB guns and pack our lunch."

Guthrie gets a backpack for our lunches and flashlights in case we find a cave. Then we get our BB guns and start to walk out the front door, when Guthrie stops.

"Wait," he says, "we're not supposed to go anywhere without telling someone first."

"We could write a note," I suggest.

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders. "That should work."

"I'll write it!" I run over to the big desk and get a pencil and paper. I write the note and put it on the kitchen table. "Done!" I say as I run to the front door. "Let's go find Bigfoot!"

* * *

Guthrie takes me to the place he went the other night. We follow the path on our property that leads to the high country.

"You guys went this far?" I ask.

"Yeah. Bigfoot isn't gonna stay where there's a house and a bunch of people. Come on."

I follow him along the path and we search the ground for footprints, and the trees and bushes for hair. Even though we don't find anything, it's still a lot of fun. After a while we stop to sit on a log and eat our lunch.

"I'm starving!" I tell him. "I wonder what time it is?"

Guthrie's not wearing a watch so he shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know. We should go a little further and then go back."

"Maybe Bigfoot will come out if he smells our food! We should put our sandwiches on that rock over there and hide!"

"I don't think that's going to work Heidi. For one thing, he'd probably smell us and wouldn't come out, and another thing, he doesn't want a little sandwich, he wants a cow, or a goat, or something big like that."

"I say we try it." I take half my sandwich and put it on a nearby rock. "Hide with me," I tell Guthrie. I look for a good place to hide and find one behind some bushes.

"Ok, but it'll never work."

Guthrie hides behind the bushes with me and we sit and wait for Bigfoot while we finish our lunches. We wait for a little bit and then a squirrel climbs onto the rock and takes a bite of my sandwich.

"No! Go away squirrel!" I yell as I jump up from behind the bushes. It looks at me and then goes back to eating my sandwich. Soon there's a second one and they start chattering and fighting over it. I groan and Guthrie and I get up. "Dumb squirrels!"

"It's ok Heidi. I think Bigfoot is too tired to come out now anyway. He's probably sleeping in a cave somewhere and can't smell the sandwich. Let's walk up the path further and see if we can find a cave."

"Ok. But didn't you guys find a cave the other night?"

"No, it was too dark. We just followed the path and listened for Bigfoot sounds."

"Oh."

We walk a little ways further and decide to check out an area on our right because it looks like there could be a cave. As we get closer we can see there is a cave, but it's way to small for Bigfoot.

"That looks like a wolf den," Guthrie says.

"Hey, do you think there's wolf pups inside?"

"No, and if there is, you can't have one."

"I know, but it would be fun to check inside and see."

"No it wouldn't! If the mom is in there she'll bite us! Our BB guns won't do anything to her either, if that's what you're thinking."

That is what I am thinking.

"Heidi, we should go home now."

"Ok." We turn around and start walking back the way we came. "Guthrie, why do you think Adam and Hannah haven't told us about the baby?"

"Crane said sometimes people don't say they're pregnant because they're afraid they're going to lose the baby."

"What do you mean _lose_ the baby?"

"I'm not really sure. He said sometimes people wait a few months just in case."

"In case of what?" I ask.

"In case they lose the baby."

I don't understand that at all. I'm going to have to ask Hannah about that. "How come Hannah's stomach isn't fat?"

"I don't know. I know the baby grows inside of her, so maybe it's just really tiny right now. You've seen pregnant ladies before. Remember when Kenny's mom was pregnant? Her stomach kept getting bigger and bigger."

"Oh yeah. But how come Hannah's stomach isn't big at all?"

"I don't know. I guess the baby is really small."

I don't understand. We keep walking and all of a sudden Guthrie stops.

"Sh!" He whispers. "Do you hear that?"

I stop walking and listen. I can hear something. "It sounds like something is walking towards us."

"I know," Guthrie whispers. "Quick, let's hide behind that bush!"

We hurry to get off the path and hide behind a nearby bush.

"Do you think it's Bigfoot?" I whisper.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"I'm scared," I tell him.

"I am too."

We listen to the sound get closer and then I see something big walking on the path as it gets closer. "It's Bigfoot!" I scream and I jump up and start running away from it.

"Heidi, wait!" Guthrie yells, but I'm not stopping.

I run as fast as I can and I can hear Guthrie yelling for me to stop. I hear someone else yelling too, but I can also hear the footsteps getting closer to me, and then I feel something grab me around my waist. I scream and look up. It's Daniel.

Guthrie comes running up and he says, "it's just Daniel. It's not Bigfoot Heidi."

"We've been looking all over for you guys," Daniel says.

"Why?" Guthrie asks.

"Because Adam has a job for you and you're supposed to be helping today. He's also mad because you didn't tell anyone where you were going."

"We left a note," Guthrie tells him.

"That wasn't a very good note. Adam's mad about that too. So is Hannah."

I wonder why Hannah's mad.

Guthrie looks at me. "What did you write Heidi?"

"I said we were going hunting for Bigfoot."

"You didn't write _where_ we were going?!"

"I didn't know _where_ we were going," I tell him.

"I told you!" Guthrie says.

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did! I said we were going to where I went the other night."

"I didn't know where that was."

Daniel says, "we need to go home now. It took me a while to find you. You guys walked a long way."

"We had too," I tell him. "Guthrie said Bigfoot isn't gonna be around our house where there's a bunch of people."

We walk back and tell Daniel about the squirrels eating my sandwich. He thought that was funny. Then I asked Daniel about Hannah's baby and how she could lose it. I don't think he knew what I was talking about because he didn't answer my question. He just said a bunch of stuff that didn't make any sense to me. When I asked him how come Hannah's stomach wasn't fat he tried to tell me the baby was really small. He said it was probably the size of an olive. I listened to him but I think he's just making that part up. A baby can't be that small. I don't think Daniel knows anything about being pregnant.

We keep talking as we get closer to the house. Then Daniel goes over to the barn and we walk to the house.

* * *

No one is downstairs when we walk inside, but we can hear someone upstairs so we go up there. Hannah is in her room curling her hair with her curling iron. We walk inside and she turns around to look at us.

"Where were you?"

Guthrie tells her where we were because I don't know. She looks disappointed.

"I told you I was going to be right back after I took lunch out to your brothers. I expected to see you waiting here when I got back."

"Sorry," we both tell her.

"Sorry about the note too," Guthrie says. "Heidi wrote it and I should've looked at it before we left."

"Well, next time don't go off like that," she says.

"Ok." I sit on the bed to watch her curl her hair. "Hannah, what does it mean to lose a baby?"

"I'm outta here," Guthrie says and he runs out.

"What?" Hannah asks.

I tell her again and she tries to answer, but I don't understand. "But where does the baby go when it's lost? How can it come out? And where does it come out from?"

She tries to tell me, but I still don't understand. I tell her what Daniel said about a baby being as small as an olive and she says he's right. Then she starts talking about eggs being inside girls' stomachs, only she doesn't use the word stomach, she calls it something else. I groan and fall back on the bed.

"Hannah, I already told you, I don't think girls have eggs." I remember her trying to tell me that when we were in Reno, and her and Adam were trying to talk to me about sex. "Hannah! We don't have chicken eggs inside of us!"

She smiles at me and says, "you know what? I think you and me need to go to the library and see if there's a book about being pregnant that has pictures in it of a pregnant lady. Pictures of what the eggs look like and what a baby looks like in the uter...stomach."

I sit up and shrug my shoulders. "I guess that would help." I still don't understand.

"I think it would help a lot," she says.

I think about the baby in Hannah's stomach. "Hannah? Does your stomach hurt?"

"No. Why are you asking?"

"Just 'cause you've been sick."

"My stomach doesn't hurt, but I do feel tired. I'm going to take a little nap before we go tonight."

"What time are you leaving?"

"Dinner starts at six, so probably five-thirty."

"When are you coming home?" I ask. "Midnight?"

"I'm not sure. It would be nice to stay for the judging contest at the end, but I don't know if I'll last that long." She smiles at me and says, "I'm sure you'll be asleep _way_ before I get home."

I smile and nod at her. It's no secret that whenever Daniel, Evan, or Ford watch us, we hop in bed when we see headlights drive up to the house.

"I'm also sure you won't be eating too much junk food either."

"Riiiiiiight," I tell her. I move up to the head of the bed and rest my head on Adam's pillow. I curl up in a ball while I watch Hannah curl her hair and yawn. I'm tired. I've worked hard today. I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

I hear lots of talking when I wake up. I sit up and look around. It's five o'clock. I'm still in Adam and Hannah's room on their bed. There's a blanket over me so Hannah must have covered me up. The talking is coming from the hallway so I get up to listen.

Crane and Brian are talking near the bathroom. Well, Crane is in the bathroom and Brian is in the doorway talking to him. I walk up to them and I can smell the cologne they're wearing. They always put cologne on when they're going out on a date.

"Are you excited for your date?" I ask them.

"Yep," Crane says.

"I bet Isabella will look really pretty," I tell him. I wish I could see her. I look up at Brian. "Are you and Laura entering the dance contest?"

"Probably. If she wants to, we will."

Crane finishes brushing his teeth and says, "I'm outta here." He walks out and Brian walks in and shuts the door. "Bye twerp," Crane says to me. "Don't wait up!" I smile as I watch him walk down the stairs. He's whistling and that makes me feel happy. I hope he has fun with Isabella. I hope she has fun too.

I wonder where everyone else is so I decide to go downstairs to see if anyone is in the kitchen. When I get to the bottom of the stairs, the front door opens and Adam walks in. Not the person I want to see right now. He looks down at me with his serious face on.

"I'm disappointed you went off today. I already talked to Guthrie about it, and now I'm going to talk to you. Leaving like that wasn't ok."

"Sorry."

"The note you left wasn't a good note. You know better than that. You need to write _where_ you're going. Remember? We've had this conversation before."

I nod my head and say, "sorry. I forgot."

"Did you also forget I had a job for you to do?"

Oops. I did forget about that. I nod my head again and say, "sorry. I really did forget."

"That's ok. You can do the job now."

"Now?" I ask. "But it's almost dinnertime."

"Oh well. I have a job for you that needs to get done today and you're going to do it. It wasn't that big of a job, and Crane was going to help you with it. But now it's too late for him to help so you're going to have to do it by yourself."

"Can't somebody else help me?"

"No. They finished their jobs."

"But it will be too hard for me to do by myself," I complain.

"You don't even know what the job is yet. It's not a hard job, it just takes some time, and working by yourself is going to make it take longer."

I sit down on a step and cry.

"Crying isn't going to get you anywhere, so knock it off. Stand up and listen to me."

I get up and wipe my eyes and look at him.

"Hannah wants to plant a garden out back. It's a little rocky back there so we marked out an area and got rid of the big rocks. I need you to remove all the rocks that are bigger than a quarter."

"_All_ of them?" This sounds like it's gonna take a long time.

"Yep. _All_ of them."

"What am I supposed to do with them?"

"Throw them out of the area."

That sounds like fun.

"Don't _throw_ them, _toss_ them out of the area," he says. I swear he can read my mind!

I sigh. "Ok. How long do I have to work on it for?"

"Until the job is done. The quicker you work, the faster you're done with the job."

"Can Guthrie help me?"

"No. He did the job I had for him to do earlier. This is _your_ job to do. Crane was going to help you with it, but since you went off you have to do it by yourself. Maybe next time you'll remember to stay put when I tell you I have a job for you to do. Right?"

I sigh and look up at him. "Right."

"Good. If I were you I'd get started." I stand up and start to walk by him but he stops me. He lifts up my chin up and says, "be good for your brothers tonight."

"I will." I smile up at him. "Have fun with Hannah tonight."

"I will," he says and he goes up the stairs while I walk outside to see what the backyard looks like.

* * *

My job is boring. There's an area out back that's been marked off with strings tied to little wooden posts. It's in the shape of a rectangle and I think it must be a mile long. Well, maybe not a mile, but it's big enough that it takes me almost fifty steps to walk the long side. I've watched my brothers measure stuff before by using their feet, so this must be fifty feet long! I measure the short side and it's twenty feet long! I guess I'd better quit playing around and get to work.

The area is all dug up and I can see a pile of rocks to the side of it. Those must be the ones my brothers already took out. I start walking from one side to the other kicking at the ground and picking up rocks. How is Hannah gonna grow anything with all these rocks laying around? How's she gonna keep the deer out too? Hey, maybe we can get a dog! That's how my friends keep the deer off their property. I'll have to ask Adam if we can get one. I've always wanted a puppy and he always says no. Maybe now he'll say yes! I keep working. I don't know how long this job is going to take and I want to be done. I think about our fake surprise party we're having tonight. I can't wait to see the look on my brothers' faces when they see the girls! They're gonna be so happy!

By the time I'm finished I'm tired, hot and sweaty. This job took a long time to do! Probably five whole hours. I wipe the sweat off my forehead with my shirt and walk over to the house.

* * *

"It's about time you finished!" Guthrie says to me when I walk inside.

I go into the kitchen to get a drink of water. "I know! That took forever! Probably like five hours!" I look at the clock. 6:30. Well maybe it only took an hour.

Daniel, Ford and Evan are in the kitchen getting dinner ready. It looks like they're cooking spaghetti.

"Can we have ice cream instead?" I ask.

"Eat some of this first," Daniel says, "and then you can have some."

"Ok."

Guthrie and I help set the table while Evan puts the garlic bread on the table and Ford brings a salad over.

"Aw, do we have to have salad?" Guthrie asks.

"Just have a little," Ford says. "It won't kill you."

Daniel brings the spaghetti over and we all sit down to eat.

"What are we doing tonight?" Guthrie asks. We smile at each other. "Can we play Monopoly again?"

"No. We're not playing board games tonight," Evan says.

"Then what are we doing?" I ask. "Can we watch TV?"

"I guess you can," Daniel says. "I don't care. Just as long as you don't bug me while I talk on the phone."

"Who are you going to talk to?" Guthrie teases.

"Allison."

"You'll have to wait until I'm done talking to Cleo," Ford says.

"Nope. I've got dibs on the phone first," Evan says. "I'm gonna call Becky."

"Well, we'd better call them soon because Allison said she's going to that big party 'everyone' is going to," Daniel says.

"I know. Becky's going too. I can't believe she won't tell me where it is!" Evan says.

"Even Cleo's going," Ford says.

Guthrie and I laugh a little.

"What's so funny?" Evan asks.

"Nothing," Guthrie says and he laughs harder so I do too.

"What are you two up to?" Ford asks.

"Nothing," I say.

"You'd better not be," he says.

"Are you guys gonna drink beer tonight?" I ask.

"No. Adam told us we couldn't since we were grounded," Daniel says.

Usually when Daniel, Evan or Ford watch us they sneak a beer or two. Everyone knows they do it. Before Adam married Hannah, they used to drink beer sometimes. Adam and Brian used to say, "once you turn fourteen, you can drink on the ranch." Hannah got them to change their minds after she told them how bad it was to drink that young and she told them stories about teenagers drinking and driving. Gross stories where people died because teens were drinking.

Everyone also knows that when they watch us, Guthrie and I eat a bunch of junk food and stay up late.

"Why don't we pop some popcorn and watch TV," Daniel suggests. "We're all stuck here, we might as well make the best of it."

Guthrie and I jump up and yell yeah! It's a good idea too, because when the girls get here Guthrie and I can watch TV instead of bugging them. Everyone agrees that sounds like a good plan.

We finish eating dinner and clean up the mess while Daniel goes upstairs to call Allison. It's fun washing dishes with Evan and Ford because we have a water fight. By the time Daniel comes back downstairs we're all pretty wet and Daniel joins us. He tells us Allison wasn't home and probably left for the party. Evan and Ford decide Cleo and Becky probably left already too, so we finish our water fight. It's fun, except for cleaning up when we're done, but we decide to clean that up later.

Guthrie and I look at the clock. 7:30. Only a half hour left to wait!

Daniel says, "we'll make the popcorn at eight o'clock and get the TV set up. There's gotta be something good on."

Guthrie says, "can we make it before eight?"

"Why?"

Guthrie shrugs his shoulders, "just in case the show we want to watch starts right at eight."

"I guess so," Daniel says. "It feels like we just ate dinner though. I'm not hungry yet."

"I'm always hungry for popcorn," I tell him. "We have to have sodas too!"

"Of course," Ford says. "You can't have popcorn without soda!"

Daniel, Evan and Ford start getting stuff out to make popcorn while Guthrie and I go into the living room.

"We have to watch for the girls," he tells me. We go to the front window to look out. It's dark outside now so we watch for headlights.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Seven forty-five. Only fifteen more minutes!"

I jump up and down I'm so excited!

"What are you guys doing?" Evan asks. He's in here now and he's staring at us while we look out the window. "They're probably not going to be home until midnight." He's talking about Adam and Hannah.

"You never know," Guthrie says.

"You guys are crazy," Evan says. "I'm gonna get the tv ready."

We keep looking out the window until finally we see headlights coming down the driveway.

"Yeah!" I yell and clap my hands.

"What?" Evan asks.

"Nothing!" I yell over to him.

"What are you guys doing over there?" He asks. "Let me see."

"No! You can't!" I yell and Guthrie and I block the window.

Evan laughs. "Get out of my way," he says as he pushes by us and looks out the window. Guthrie and I stare at each other. "It looks like someone's here," Evan says. He leaves the window and goes back to the kitchen. "I think they're home!" He yells to Daniel and Ford. "We'd better finish cleaning up that water mess!"

Guthrie and I laugh and look back out the window. That's strange, there's more headlights coming down the driveway.

"They must be coming in different cars," Guthrie says.

"Yeah, here comes a third car." We watch as it parks next to the other two cars. "Wait...here comes more cars!"

"What?!" Guthrie yells. "That must be Adam and Hannah! Oh no!"

"What should we do?!" I yell.

"I don't know."

We look back out the window and see another car coming and then two more after that!

"What's going on?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know." He walks over to the front door and opens it to go outside. The porch light isn't on and we leave it that way. I follow Guthrie out onto the porch and close the door behind us. We see people walking over here as more cars come.

"It's Becky!" I yell.

"Hi guys!" She calls out. "Do you want us all to wait on the porch to yell surprise, or should we just go inside?" She's carrying a bag of chips in one hand and a six-pack of beer in the other.

Uh-oh.

Allison and Cleo are behind her. "I baked cupcakes," Cleo says.

Guthrie and I look behind them and see a bunch of people coming up the steps. They're all walking quietly and I can see kids with beer and chips and other stuff to eat.

"What's happening Guthrie?" I whisper.

"I don't know."

Becky says, "do you want us to wait out here?"

"Why are all these people here?" Guthrie asks.

"We're all here for the surprise party! Look, I made a flyer." She hands a flyer to Guthrie and we read it:

"Party at the McFadden's Ranch

It's a surprise party for Daniel, Evan and Ford!

8:00 sharp! Remember, it's a surprise! So don't tell them!"

On the corner of the flyer it says, "BYOB". I point to it and ask Guthrie, "what does BYOB mean?"

"I don't know."

We look at all the people waiting to come in. There's lots! And cars are still coming! Someone asks Becky if she wants the keg inside, or out on the porch. Another girl asks if she can go inside because she has to use the bathroom.

This is crazy! The porch light turns on, and the front door opens behind us.

Everyone yells, "surprise!"

Guthrie and I look behind us at Daniel, Evan and Ford. Then we look at each other and Guthrie whispers to me, "Heidi, we are in so much trouble."


	17. Chapter 17

**Just a short chapter...**

* * *

"Surprise!" Everyone yells again.

Becky says, "did we surprise you guys? It was so hard to keep this a secret!"

"What are you all doing here?" Daniel asks.

"Guthrie invited us. He said him and Heidi wanted to throw you a surprise party and he asked us to invite people," Becky tells him.

Guthrie and I look at each other. I can tell he wants to cry, just like me.

""What?!" Evan yells and then he looks at us. "You guys are in so much trouble!"

"Excuse me," a girl says as she pushes her way through us to the front door. "I need to use the bathroom."

"It's upstairs," I tell her.

"I have to too," another girl says and she follows the other girl.

Daniel, Evan and Ford pull me and Guthrie to the side of the porch.

"What did you guys do?!" Daniel asks. He's mad.

Guthrie whispers, "don't say anything Heidi. Let me do all the talking." I start to cry.

Guthrie tells them, "I wanted to cheer you guys up since I was part of the reason you got grounded, so I invited Becky, Cleo, and Allison to come over."

"Then what are all these people here for?!" Evan yells.

"I told Becky I wanted to have a surprise party for you guys and I asked her to invite Cleo and Allison. She must've misunderstood me and thought I wanted her to invite lots of people."

"Oh my gosh!" Ford says.

"Are you crazy Guthrie?! We're grounded!" Evan yells. "We're not supposed to have 'anyone' come over!"

"And now we have a party?!" Daniel looks at me. "How come you're so quiet?"

"I...um...I," I don't know what to say, but Guthrie moves so he's standing in front of me.

"She had nothing to do with this. It was all me."

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

He turns around and says, "sh. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"Daniel, what are we gonna do?" Ford asks. "There's a keg on our porch! And look! More people are coming!"

He's right. Cars keep driving to our house. There's so many cars! And so many people!

"We've got to get all these people out of here!" Daniel says.

"How are we gonna do that?!" Evan asks. "We can't tell everyone to go home!"

"We have to!"

Cleo comes out to talk to Ford. "Ford? Is there something wrong? You don't look happy."

Ford takes her hand and leads her to the bench on the porch. I move closer so I can hear them.

"What's wrong Ford?"

"We're not supposed to have a party," he tells her.

"You're not?"

"No."

"But Becky said one of your brothers invited us."

"She talked to Guthrie. Guthrie invited you."

"Oh no. I knew something wasn't quite right. I knew you couldn't do anything this weekend because you were grounded, so I thought it was strange your brothers were throwing you a surprise party. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know. What are you going to do?"

"We have to get all these people out of here. And more people keep coming!"

"I know, the whole school has been talking about this party. Everyone's parents are at the Whiskerino tonight, so it was the perfect night for a party. It's been a long time since anyone's had a big party like this."

"I know," Ford says. "I'm not really the party type either."

"Me either. And now look, you've got the party of the year at your house!" She says and they both laugh.

Aw. They're so cute. Ford takes Cleo's hand and holds it. Their cheeks are getting pink.

"Don't get me wrong, I like to have fun," Ford tells her, "but parties haven't really interested me. I might drink a beer or two, but I'd much rather be sitting out here and talking to you, than being inside where it's wild and crazy, and I don't need a beer to do this."

"I feel the same way," she says.

They look into each other's eyes and then Ford leans towards her and kisses her on the lips!

"Hey, kissy face!" Evan yells over at Ford. "Sorry to break it up, but we've got a big problem to fix."

"Sorry," Ford tells Cleo and they both get up and go over to where Evan, Daniel, Becky and Allison are talking. I move closer to them so I can hear, but I need to ask Guthrie something so I scoot close to him and whisper, "why'd you take all the blame?"

"Because your already in trouble at school. I don't think we should add this too."

"But this is all my fault! It was my stupid plan!" I whisper.

"Yeah, you're right, it was your dumb, stupid plan! But Heidi, I went along with it. It might as well just have been my stupid plan. It's ok. You're in enough trouble already. Just keep your mouth shut and let me do all the talking. Hopefully Daniel can get everyone to go home soon and this won't be a big deal. Adam and Hannah don't have to know."

"Why'd you say Hannah?" I ask.

"Do you know how mad she'll be if she finds out all these teenagers are drinking?"

"Oh, I didn't think about that!"

"I know. Neither one of us thought this through," he says. "Let's listen and see how they're gonna fix this."

We stop talking and listen.

"If we make everyone go home now, we're gonna be the laughingstock of the whole school!" Evan says.

"We'll be grounded for a year if we let all these people stay," Ford says.

"Daniel, what if we let everyone stay for an hour or so, or at least until ten o'clock, and 'then' we kick everyone out?" Evan says.

"I don't know. It sounds too risky."

"Yeah," Ford says. "We need to kick everyone out now."

"It's nine o'clock now," Evan says. "What's one more hour? Adam isn't going to be home until midnight."

"No, they have to go now," Daniel says. "Let's go inside and start telling everyone to go home."

A couple of guys come stumbling out onto the porch from inside. "Great party, Daniel!" One of them says. They make their way to this big container on the porch and it looks like they're getting something to drink from it.

"What's that?" I ask Guthrie. I point to the big barrel.

"It's a keg. There's beer inside of it."

After the guys get their beer they come over to where we're all standing.

"Come inside and join the party!" One of them says. His voice sounds funny. It's like he's talking really slow. He can barely stand up.

"What's wrong with him?" I ask Guthrie.

"He's drunk."

One of the guys yells to everyone inside the house, "they're out here! They're all out here on the porch!"

Lots of kids start coming outside. They're all holding beers.

"Becky, how come some of these guys are already drunk?" Evan asks.

"We had a pre-party just down the road from here. That way we could all meet up and come at the same time. Lots of people started drinking there."

"This keeps getting worse," Daniel says as he groans. Then he looks down the porch a little ways and yells, "hey! No smoking! I don't care if it's weed or cigarettes! No smoking! Take it out to the street!"

"Aw man, that's so far!" Someone says.

"I don't care!" Daniel yells. "Put it out!" Then he looks at me and Guthrie and sighs. He looks at Evan, Ford and the girls. "Alright, let's do this. Guthrie, Heidi, you stay out here on the bench." They go inside and yell, "party's over!"

I don't think anyone hears them. Guthrie and I stand in the doorway to watch. The music is so loud and there's so many people! My brothers start taking beer out of people's hands and telling them it's time to go home.

"But the party just got started!" Someone says.

Nobody's listening to them. Guthrie looks behind us and says, "oh great! Here comes another car!" I turn to look at it, and then turn back around to look inside again. This is such a mess! My brothers are having such a hard time convincing people to go. I wish I knew how to help, but all I can do is stare and cry.

"OUTTA MY WAY!"

Guthrie and I jump and look behind us. It's Adam! He pushes through us and stops and looks around. He's holding one of the flyers Becky made in his hand.

"Daniel! Evan! Ford!" He yells.

"Adam, we can explain," Daniel starts to say.

"Get out here now!" Adam yells. He moves me and Guthrie to the side of the front door and my brothers come out to the porch. Hannah is coming up the porch steps and she has some fliers in her hand too. When she looks around at everything she comes over to me and Guthrie.

"You two sit on the bench so you're out of the way." She guides us over to the bench and then goes and stands next to Adam.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" He yells.

"Adam!" Evan yells. "This isn't our fault! Look at the flier!"

Then Daniel yells, "we didn't know they were coming!"

Hannah puts her hand on Adam's arm and says loudly, "we can talk about all this later. Right now we need to get this party over and these kids home safe."

"You're right," Adam says. Then he yells, "Daniel, go in there and turn the music off! Evan, Ford and Hannah, stand here in the doorway!" Then he goes inside and I can see him walk up the stairs a few steps. When the music goes off I hear lots of groans and people yell out, "hey what'd you do that for? Turn it back on!" And, "what's going on?"

Adam whistles loudly and yells, "everybody listen up! The party is over! If you have an open beer can go into the kitchen and dump it down the sink. If you drove here give your car keys to Hannah! Now!"

The kids must be doing what he says because he's not yelling now. Hannah has a basket and she's holding it out so kids can put their car keys in it. After a while Adam whistles again.

"Any unopened beer bring over to Evan and Ford!" He yells. Then he tells Evan and Ford to put the beer out on the porch.

"No fair!" Someone yells. Someone else yells, "I paid for this beer, I'm not giving it up!"

Adam yells back. "You can get your beer back in the morning! Just stop by with a parent and I'll be happy to give it back to you!"

There are lots of groans after that. Evan and Ford start putting lots of beer out on the porch.

Then Adam yells, "get comfortable because none of you are leaving here drunk!"

"Aw man!" Someone says. "I haven't been drinking, can I go?" Someone asks.

"If you're a driver and you're sober come have Hannah check you out. If she says you're sober, she'll give you your keys," he says. "And if any of you needs a ride home, I'll be happy to drive you."

A girl comes up to Hannah and says she hasn't been drinking. Hannah smells her breath and then makes her walk in a straight line. Then she has her say the alphabet backwards and stand on one foot.

"What's she doing?" I ask Guthrie.

"I don't know."

Hannah gives the girl her keys and lets three other girls leave with her. Hannah does the same tests with two more kids. When the fourth kid comes up she smells his breath and says, "smells minty. Have you been chewing gum?" The boy says no and when she has him do some of the tests he can't do them. He starts to fall over and then he laughs. "Daniel, take this one inside and put him on the couch." Hannah keeps testing the kids and some pass, and some don't. Adam stands in the doorway now to help her.

After a while Becky, Allison and Cleo come out.

"We're really sorry Adam, Hannah," Cleo says.

"Yeah, it wasn't Daniel, Evan or Ford's fault," Alison says.

Becky says, "I misunderstood when I talked to Guthrie on the phone. I thought he wanted a real surprise party for Daniel, Evan and Ford. I didn't know he only wanted the three of us to come over. I'm so sorry."

Adam looks over at Guthrie and glares while Hannah puts her hand on his arm. "Later Adam. Right now we need to work on this."

I take Guthrie's hand and hold it. "I'm so sorry Guthrie. If you want to tell Adam this is all my fault, you can. I'm going to tell him anyway."

"You can't Heidi. You're already in a lot of trouble at school. Just let me take the blame for this."

"No, I can't let you do that. This is all my fault!" I cry and he puts his arm around me.

"Heidi, let me do this. Adam's gonna kill you if he finds out you did this."

"No, I have to tell."

"Look at me Heidi," he says. I look at him and he says, "I'll do this for you. Please let me take the blame."

I shake my head no.

Hannah walks over to us and says, "how are you two doing?"

I cry and she kneels down and hugs me. Guthrie asks, "how come you're home so early?"

"I was feeling tired," she says.

"Hannah," he says, "this is all my fault."

I cry real hard then and Hannah hugs me tighter and whispers, "sh, Heidi. It's going to be ok. I know you're scared now, but everyone will go home soon."

I wish I could tell her why I was crying. "Hannah?" I start to say, but Adam interrupts me.

"Hannah, someone else is ready to be checked."

She gives me a little squeeze and then stands up and walks over to the doorway. Guthrie hugs me and says, "it's going to be ok Heidi. Let me take the blame and you won't get in trouble. But listen to me, if you are going to confess tell me first, and then let me do _all_ the talking. Ok?"

"Ok."

We hug each other and he whispers, "it's going to be ok. Everything's going to be ok."


	18. Chapter 18

Guthrie and I have been sitting out on the porch for a while now. I'm starting to get cold so I stand up and walk over to Hannah. She's still standing in the doorway testing a boy to see if he's sober, so I wrap my arms around her waist until she's done.

"Hannah, I'm cold," I tell her.

"Oh, I'm sorry Heidi. I guess I kind of forgot about you. You and Guthrie have been so good out here, but you must be freezing. Come inside. Guthrie, come inside now."

Guthrie stands up and walks over to me and we walk into the house together. It's a mess. Ford, Daniel, Evan and Adam are cleaning up. There are chip bags all over the living room and it looks like some people spilled their drinks because the floor looks wet in some places. There are a few kids laying on the couch sleeping, and when I look upstairs I see some kids sitting in the hall outside the bathroom. I can hear someone throwing up.

Hannah closes the front door and walks upstairs to see if the kids up there are ok. Guthrie and I don't know what to do so we stand at the bottom of the stairs staring at everyone in the living room.

Daniel looks over at us and says, "you should be helping us Guthrie since this was your idea."

Evan holds the broom out to Guthrie. "Here, start sweeping."

Guthrie takes the broom from him and starts sweeping. I start to pick up a bag of chips laying on the floor when Adam tells me to stop. "Heidi, go to bed. You don't have to brush your teeth tonight just go get in bed."

"I want to help clean up. I ...,"

"I don't want to argue with you Heidi," he says. "It's been a long night and it's not over yet. Go to bed."

I walk up the stairs slowly and watch everyone clean up. I should be helping. This is my mess. When I get to the top of the stairs I walk around the kids sitting in the hallway. They look tired and sick. When I walk by to the bathroom I look in and see Hannah on the floor with a girl. The girl is on her knees with her head hanging over the toilet. She's throwing up in it and Hannah is holding her hair back. Hannah looks over at me.

"Go to bed Heidi."

"I am." I walk past the bathroom to my room and stop just outside my door. I walk over to the railing and hold on to it as I look downstairs. I feel so bad. I wish I could go down there and help.

"Heidi, go to bed," Adam says from downstairs.

I walk into my room and sit on my bed to think. I have to tell someone this is all my fault. My stomach hurts so bad. I feel bad that everyone is helping except for me. I stand up and leave my room to walk back to the bathroom.

"Hannah?"

She's talking to the girl who has her head over the toilet. Hannah has a wet washcloth and is wiping the girl's forehead. Hannah looks over at me and says, "not now Heidi. You need to go to bed."

"But Hannah, I really need to talk to you."

The girl starts throwing up again and Hannah says, "go to bed Heidi." Then she starts talking to the girl again.

I walk downstairs and stand on the bottom step.

"Do you realize how embarrassing this is going to be on Monday?" Evan says while he wipes something off the coffee table.

"I know," Daniel says. "When's the last time you heard of a party being broken up?!"

"Not in a long time!" Evan says.

"Quit complaining!" Adam says.

"We didn't do this Adam!" Evan yells.

"I didn't say you did!" Adam yells back.

"Do you know how embarrassing this is going to be Adam! Our party got broken up, not by a parent, but by our older brother!" Daniel yells.

"Yeah! That's so embarrassing!" Evan yells.

"You were a teenager once, Adam," Ford says.

"Yeah, how could you do this to us!" Evan yells.

"Yeah, I was a teenager once! I went to my share of parties, but I'm not a teenager now! I'm in charge of you now, and...,"

"Yeah, you're in charge!" Daniel yells. "We get it, you're the boss! **Dad**!"

"That's not what I meant! Let me finish!" Adam takes a deep breath and then exhales. His voice is calmer now and he says, "will you listen to me?" Everyone's quiet so he keeps talking. "I'm responsible for you, and I worry about you. It's hard to be the older brother all the time. Sometimes I have to be the parent, 'the dad'. When you're young you don't think anything bad can happen to you. I don't want anything to happen to you or your friends. If one of those kids drove home drunk and got in an accident I would feel horrible and so would you! I did what I would want any parent to do for my kids, keep you safe. Why do you think these kids are sleeping it off on the couch? Because I don't want them to get hurt." He stops talking for a minute and looks at the three of them. "I'm sorry if you think I embarrassed you by ending the party, but I'd rather have you hate me than be the 'cool' older brother that let your party go on and did nothing to stop your friends from getting hurt."

"We don't hate you Adam," Daniel says quietly.

"No, we don't," Evan says. "I'm sorry we got mad at you."

Adam says, "it's hard being the responsible one all the time, but I do it because I care about you guys and I love you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. We've already had enough heartache in this family to last a lifetime."

I wonder what that means.

"Sorry Adam," Ford says. "I'm glad you care about us."

"I'm always going to care about you."

I watch them all four get together for a group hug. Guthrie watches too.

"Let's get this mess cleaned up," Adam says as he pats them on the back.

"Ok, _dad_," Daniel says and they laugh.

Guthrie laughs too and they all look at him. Adam says, "you've got a lot of explaining to do." He looks real serious when he says that.

Guthrie puts his head down and starts sweeping again. "I know," he says quietly.

I step down from the step I've been standing on and say, "Adam?"

He looks at me and says, "I thought I told you to go to bed."

"But, I need to...,"

"I want you to go to bed, and I don't want to have to tell you again," he says in his really serious voice.

"But I really...," I try again.

"Go Heidi. Whatever it is you can tell me in the morning. I need you to go to bed now."

I put my head down and walk back up the stairs. If he won't listen, and Hannah won't listen, I know who will.

* * *

It's cold outside when I sneak out the front door. I had to wait until everyone went into the kitchen and then I snuck by the bathroom and went downstairs. I have my flashlight so I turn it on and walk across the lawn. I pass by the cars that are still parked here. The ones that belong to the drunk kids inside. I see headlights coming down the driveway so I run the rest of the way to the barn. Brian and Crane must be home.

Once I'm in the barn I decide it would best not to turn the light on. I'll just use my flashlight. I walk over to Lucy's stall and climb up the fence. I shine the flashlight on her and she walks over to me.

"Hi Lucy," I say as I pet her nose. "No one inside will listen to me, but I know you will Lucy. Won't you girl?" She neighs and I rub her neck.

I almost fall off the fence when I hear the barn door open. I turn my flashlight off and sit quietly. Someone turns the light on and I look to see who it is. Crane.

"I thought someone was in here," he says as he walks over to me. "What are you doing out here? You should be in bed."

I start to cry.

"Hey," he says quietly. "What's wrong?" When he gets close to me I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his shirt and cry. He takes me off the fence and holds me.

"Crane, I did something really wrong," I cry.

"What?"

I'm quiet. I don't know how to tell him.

"Are you thinking about what happened at school today with Mr. Brick?"

"No. I did another thing wrong."

"Oh. Whatever it is you can tell me," he says.

"Crane, everyone's gonna be mad at me. Ford, Evan and Daniel are gonna hate me."

"No they won't! They could 'never' hate you. Don't even think like that." He holds me out a little so he can look at me. "Heidi, don't think that, ok? Whatever it is I'm sure they'll forgive you for it."

I'm not so sure. "I don't think so," I say and then I bury my face in his shirt again and cry. "Crane, no one wants to listen to me right now. I tried to talk to Hannah and Adam, but they both told me to go to bed."

"So you came out here? That's not good."

I cry. "I'm sorry. I came out here because I knew Lucy would listen to me."

"I'm going to take you inside now." He turns around and walks towards the barn door with me. "I'm sure Adam is worried about you and wondering where you are."

"No he's not. He's too busy cleaning up the mess."

"What mess?"

"The mess from the party."

"You had a party? I was wondering why all those cars were out there. Adam must be mad."

I hang on to Crane tightly as he walks back to the house. I wonder if Adam is talking to Guthrie. I wonder if he's yelling at Guthrie. This is all my fault. "Crane?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I want to run away."

"Why?"

"Because I did something wrong. I keep doing things that are wrong."

"How is running away going to help?" He asks.

"If I go, I won't hurt anyone anymore."

"Who are you hurting?"

"Everyone. You, Guthrie, Adam, everyone in our whole family."

"What are you talking about? Heidi, you're not making any sense. I think you're tired," Crane says and I close my eyes because I do feel kind of tired. I hear him walking up the porch steps now and he says, "why is there a keg on our porch? You guys must have had some party, huh?" Then he opens the front door.

"Where have you been?!" Adam yells.

I open my eyes and look at him.

"I found her in the barn," Crane says.

"What were you doing out there?!"

"She was talking to Lucy."

"Talking to Lucy? What's wrong Heidi?" Adam asks.

I'm tired so I say, "I want to run away."

"What?" Adam asks. "What are you talking about?"

"I think she's tired," Crane says. "I'll put her to bed."

I feel him walking upstairs with me and then laying me down on my bed. "Goodnight," he says and he kisses my forehead. He covers me with a blanket and that's all I remember.

* * *

"I hate you Heidi!" Evan yells.

"I hate you too!" Daniel yells.

"I hate you the most!" Ford yells.

"No, I do!" Guthrie yells.

Then Crane, Brian, Hannah and Adam start yelling at me. I feel dizzy, like I'm spinning around and around in a circle and everyone's standing around me yelling. I'm crying and crying and they keep yelling louder and louder.

"Stop!" I scream and all of a sudden I'm sitting up in my bed all sweaty and I'm crying.

"What's wrong?" Adam asks as he rushes into my bedroom. He sits down on my bed and hugs me. "Did you have a bad dream? It's over now. You're safe." He rocks me back and forth a little and whispers, "I've got you. I've got you Heidi."

"It's bad," I cry.

"What's bad? Your dream?"

"I'm bad."

"What? Heidi, you're not bad. You're not bad. Sh. You're not making any sense."

"I'm bad and everyone hates me," I mumble.

"What?"

"You hate me."

"No I don't Heidi."

"Yes you do. Everybody does. I wanna run away...I wanna run away...I wanna run away..,"

"Ok, ok, I hear you. Sh...Heidi...I hear you...,"

He keeps rocking me and I'm so tired. My eyes are closed and I hear him singing. It's sounds like he's far away now. Far, far away, and then people are yelling again. They're yelling at me and they're mad. I can't see their faces or hear what they're yelling, but it makes me scared. "Stop!" I yell. "Stop yelling!"

"I'm not yelling, Heidi," Adam says.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...,"

"Ok, ok, shhh."

Then I hear another voice. It sounds like Crane's. "bad dream?"

"Yeah. A nightmare I think. She keeps saying she's bad and she wants to run away."

"That's what she was saying out in the barn. She said she did something bad."

"Do you think it's because of what happened at school today?" Adam asks.

"She said it wasn't. She said she did something else that was bad. She said she keeps hurting people so she wants to run away."

Adam sighs and I feel him hug me tighter and kiss my forehead. "I wish I knew what was going on in that head of yours little girl," he whispers.

"It's bad," I mumble. "I'm bad."

"No you're not."

"Is she awake?" Crane asks.

"I don't think so. She might be a little bit. I think she's feeling guilty about something."

"Yeah, I wonder what."

"I swear this kid gets in more trouble than all you guys did put together!" Adam says. "Mom would've pulled out all her hair by now."

Crane laughs a little. "Adam, do you think if mom was here, and raised her, she'd be different?"

"Yes. I think not having mom around affected all of us."

Crane says, "I guess having seven rowdy brothers didn't help her either."

"I think she's turned out just fine _because_ she has seven rowdy brothers," Adam says. "I love this little girl just the way she is. She may drive me crazy sometimes but she's so full of life. Just like mom. The full of life part, not the driving me crazy part."

"I know. Do you ever wonder what she's going to be like when she's an adult?"

"Heidi? Yeah, all the time. I think this kid is gonna do whatever she sets her mind to, and she won't let anybody get in her way."

Crane laughs and says, "you should've heard her the other morning. She said, 'I'm gonna take my baby to work with me if I want to, and nobody's gonna stop me!' It was so funny."

"I can see her doing it too," Adam says and then he sighs. "I wonder what she did now though."

"Whatever it is, it sure is causing her a lot of pain."

"See, she thinks after she does something, instead of before she does something," Adam says.

"At least she's thinking though. Right?"

"I don't know Crane. This little girl still has a lot of growing up to do."

"You're doing a good job raising her Adam."

"I'm not doing it alone. I may be the legal guardian written down on a piece of paper, but we're all raising these kids. I just wish mom and dad could see all of them now."

I yawn. My eyes are still closed but I need to tell Adam what I did. "Adam?"

"Sh. Go back to sleep."

"I ...have...to...tell...you...,"

"Not now. Go to sleep. You can tell me tomorrow," he says quietly.

It's quiet for a while and then I hear yelling again. It's loud yelling but what are they saying? It sounds bad. They're mad. Make it stop. Make it stop. "Make it stop!" I scream.

"Heidi! You're ok!"

I open my eyes and see Adam. He's still holding me. I must've fallen asleep. I close my eyes again. "Adam, make them stop yelling."

"Ok," he sighs. "I'll try." He rocks me again and rubs my back. "I wish I knew what was eating at you."

"What?"

"Nothing, go back to sleep."

"I can't. They won't stop."

Adam groans.

Crane says, "do you want me to stay up with her?"

"No." I feel Adam stand up with me. "I'll just stick her in bed with me and Hannah. I might get a little sleep that way."

"Goodnight brother," Crane says.

"Goodnight," Adam says. I open my eyes and watch as he carries me to his room and lays me down in the center of his bed. I scoot close to Hannah and he turns his lamp off.

"No!" I yell.

"Sorry, I forgot." He turns his lamp back on and gets in bed so he's sitting up, and he leans his back against the headboard. I scoot close to him now and move myself up so he can put his arm around me and then I snuggle up to him.

"Adam, I'm sorry," I whisper.

"Sh. Go to sleep."

"I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I don't know."

"Close your eyes and I'll sing to you."

"Ok." My eyes were already closed so I listen to his voice and fall back asleep.

* * *

"Heidi, move over," Adam says. I feel someone pushing me. I move my arm and it slaps down on something.

"Dang it! That's my face!" I open my eyes and look up. I'm in Adam and Hannah's bed except I'm laying across it with my head on Adam's stomach and my feet are next to Hannah's stomach. Adam moves me so I'm laying with my head on the pillow again and I close my eyes.

"What's wrong Adam?" Hannah says. "Why's Heidi in here?"

"Bad dream. I think she did something wrong and feels guilty about it. She keeps saying she's bad."

"Oh, that's not good."

"I know. But I'll tell you what, she's gonna tell me what's wrong tomorrow, because I'm not doing this again tomorrow night!"

I am bad, I think in my head. I must've said it out loud because both Adam and Hannah say, "no you're not."

Adam hugs me close to him and says, "go back to sleep. You can tell me all about it tomorrow."

I yawn. "Hannah did I kick your stomach?"

"I don't think so," she says.

"Good," I say quietly. "I don't want you to lose the baby."

"What?" She says. "What did she just say?"

"Something about a baby."

"That's what I thought she said."

"She's tired Hannah. I don't think she knows what she's saying."

I don't know what they're talking about and I drift off to sleep.

* * *

The next time I wake up it's morning. I'm in Adam and Hannah's bed all by myself. I look at the clock. 9:00. I'm still tired but I sit up anyway. I hear someone talking downstairs and I think it's Adam. It sounds like he's mad at someone. I get up and go stand near the doorway.

"I don't get it Guthrie. Explain it to me."

"I told you Adam, I wanted to make Daniel, Evan and Ford happy. I felt bad they got grounded."

"I don't buy it Guthrie. You know better than that. Do you get to have friends over when you're grounded?"

"No."

"So you invited the girls over anyways?"

"Yes."

"This isn't like you Guthrie. I feel like you're not telling me everything."

"Well, I am."

"Ok. You know your brothers are really angry with you. I am too. I'm disappointed. I don't know what else to say except you're grounded. You can forget about the camping trip you and Kenny were planning."

"What?! Adam, you can't do that! We've been planning that for over a month!"

"You broke the rules."

"But...,"

"But what? Is there something else you need to tell me? Something you might be leaving out?"

Guthrie's quiet for a while and then says, "no, that's it."

It sounds like he's crying.

"Ok then."

I think I hear Guthrie say something and it makes Adam mad. "What did you just say?!"

"I said, maybe I'll just do what Heidi does and go on the camping trip anyway!"

"That's what I thought you said! You leave Heidi out of this! You're not going on that camping trip!"

"But...,"

"But what Guthrie?"

"This isn't fair!"

"What's not fair about it? Do you have something to add to your story?"

"No! It's just not fair!" Guthrie yells and I hear the front door open and slam shut.

"What's wrong with Guthrie?" I hear Crane ask.

"I just told him he can't go on that camping trip he's been planning. I feel like he's hiding something from me."

"Like what?"

"I have a feeling the party wasn't his idea."

Crane says, "I was thinking the same thing."

"I don't know why he's covering for her, but if he's not going to tell me the truth I have to take the camping trip away. I gave him a few chances to tell me."

"I'm sure he'll do the right thing Adam."

"I hope so. I don't know what's going on with Heidi yet, but I'm sure this party was her idea."

Crane laughs a little, "it was probably one of her 'plans'. Let's see, I bet she'll say she thought it was ok to do something wrong because it would make somebody happy. I can hear her now, 'Adam, I just wanted to see the look on Daniel, Evan and Ford's faces when they saw their friends. They'd be so happy! I didn't mean to do anything wrong.'"

"Come on Crane, knock it off. This is serious and I can't laugh about it. I'm not getting through to her. I don't know what to do about the situation at school yet, and now she pulls a stunt like this?"

"_If_ she did this," Crane says. "You don't know if she planned this. Besides, she didn't plan on all those kids coming."

"Come on Crane! You _know_ she planned this, and now she's got Guthrie covering for her. I'm just so tired of all these plans she makes! Think about everything this kid has done this past week and a half. She cheated on a math test, had her friend come over when she was grounded, left school, pretended to be you on the phone, cut her finger with a pocketknife, got sent home from school I don't know how many times, got in a fight at school, climbed a jungle gym and wouldn't come down for the principal, planned a surprise party, and who knows what else! I know I'm leaving something out!"

He sounds really mad now. That's a lot of bad things I did. That's also a lot of people I've hurt.

"Adam, I know that's a lot of stuff to deal with," Crane says, "but..,"

"But what Crane?! What do I _do_ about it! Obviously whatever I'm doing with her now isn't working!"

"Calm down Adam, you're getting angry."

"You're darn right I'm angry!"

"Look, she doesn't think about the consequences. You _know_ that."

"Well, how do I get her to think about the consequences?! How do I do that?!"

"Why don't you, Brian, Hannah and I talk about this later today. You don't have to do this on your own. Let us help you. Together we can come up with something."

"We'd better, because I'm about ready to wring her neck!"

I hear the front door open and then close. It's quiet downstairs so they must've gone outside. Adam sounds pretty mad at me. He's right, I did a lot of bad things. I have to tell him I planned the party. I run to my room and shut the door so I can get dressed. I have to go find Guthrie and tell him first that I'm going to confess.

* * *

It takes me a while to find Guthrie. He's out at the back of the house on the back porch steps. He's whittling a small stick with his pocketknife. I run up to him.

"I've been looking all over for you! Guthrie I'm going to tell Adam I planned the party."

"No don't!" He yells.

"Why not?"

"Because then I'll be in trouble for lying!"

"But don't you want to go on that camping trip?"

"Of course of do! But I can't now. If you confess I'm still gonna be in trouble anyways. I went along with your dumb plan! I bet Daniel, Evan and Ford hate me! They'll probably never talk to me again!"

"Guthrie," I say quietly, "I'm sorry."

"Go away Heidi. Just leave me alone for a little while ok?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"I don't know. Can you just go?"

"But Guthrie, I ...,"

"Just go away Heidi! Leave me alone! I'm really angry right now!"

"That's why I want to tell Adam what I did!"

"Don't! If you tell him, I'll be in even more trouble and then I'll really be mad at you! And just so you know, Daniel, Evan and Ford think you were in on the party too! So they probably hate you too! Just go away!"

I run away from him and cry. I don't like it when Guthrie's mad at me. It hurts something inside of me. I think it's my heart. I run towards the river. I've got to run away. That makes me cry more because usually Guthrie runs away with me and now it'll just be me. I don't have any food or supplies with me, but that's ok. I can't go back to the house. My brothers are all mad at me. Except for maybe Crane and Brian.

"Hey, where are you going?"

It's Brian. I'm not turning around and I'm not stopping. He runs up along side of me.

"I'm talking to you! Where are you going by yourself?!"

I stop running and catch my breath. He stops too and looks at me.

"I'm running away!" I tell him.

He stares at me for a while and then says, "can I come?"

What?! I don't know what to say so I glare at him.

"Can I come with you?" He says again.

"Why? You can't run away!"

"I can if you can," he says.

"No! You can't come with me!" I start walking again and he walks with me. "I told you, you can't come!" He doesn't stop, so I do. "Brian! You can't run away with me!"

"I'm not."

"Then why are you following me?!" He's making me mad.

"I'm not following you. I'm walking this way too."

"Why?"

"Because this is the way I'm going to run away."

"Brian! You can't come!"

"Why not? Why don't you tell me why you want to run away, and then I'll tell you why I want to run away."

"Is this a trick?!"

"No."

"Fine! Then you tell me why you're running away first!"

"Ok. I'm running away because Adam's mad at me."

"You're lying! Besides, that's not a reason for you to run away."

"Fine, then why are you running away," he asks me.

"I'm running away because Guthrie's mad...hey! You're tricking me!" I yell. I pick up a big stick. "You're making fun of me!"

"No I'm not Heidi. I'm listening to you."

"I'm not talking to you any more! You can't come with me and if you follow me I'm gonna...," I glare at him, "I'm gonna...I'm gonna hit you with this stick!" I raise the stick high in the air and start to bring it down on him, but he quickly grabs my arm and holds it in the air so my arm is up with stick held up high.

"What's gonna happen if you hit me with that stick?" He asks.

"It's gonna hurt you!"

"Then what's gonna happen?"

"I'll hit you again!"

"No. Think again."

I glare at him. He's making me mad! "I did think! I'm gonna hit you with it again!"

He holds my arm a little tighter. "What's gonna happen if you hit me with that stick Heidi?"

"You're hurting me!" I yell.

"No I'm not." He grabs my arm tighter. "Does that hurt?"

"Yes!" I cry and he lets go a little.

"Think real hard because this is the last time I'm gonna ask you. What's gonna happen if you hit me with that stick?"

I cry hard. "I don't know!"

"Oh, I think you do."

I drop the stick and he lets go of my arm and I run away from him. He runs after me and grabs me. He picks me up and I put my arms around his neck and cry on his shoulder. He hugs me and holds me while I cry.

"Brian, I need to run away."

"Heidi, let me come with you. I don't want you to run away by yourself."

"But you can't run away!"

"Why not? You are."

"But they need you on the ranch," I tell him.

"So, they need you on the ranch too."

"No they don't! I hurt people and make them mad at me!"

"So. I've done that before. Remember that time I went to jail for drunk driving?"

"That's different!"

"How's it different? Everyone was mad at me. Especially Adam."

"Well, they're not mad at you now."

"That doesn't mean I'm never going to make them mad again. Remember how mad Adam was at me in Reno?"

"Yes."

"Remember how mad Daniel was when I told him the girl he liked didn't like him as much as he did, and she was gonna break his heart?"

"Yeah, he almost punched you. He would've if Adam hadn't stopped him."

"Sometimes I'm going to do things that make people mad. I don't 'want' to make them mad, sometimes I don't think before I do things and people end up getting hurt and they get mad at me."

"That happens to me too. Brian, I don't want to hurt people."

"I don't either. So what should we do?"

"You can run away with me if you want," I tell him.

"Ok." He puts me down. "Let's get going then. We've got a lot of ground to cover before nightfall."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we can't stay on the ranch. That wouldn't be running away. We have to be far enough away so no one can find us too."

I'm not sure about this, but I walk with Brian anyway.


	19. Chapter 19

Brian and I walk together quietly. My stomach growls. I didn't have any breakfast this morning. "Brian? I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything today."

"Hmmm." He looks around. "Did you bring a fishing pole?"

"No."

"A BB gun?"

"No."

"I don't have any of that stuff either. I guess we could eat insects and worms."

"Yuck!"

"Hey, if you're hungry, that's all there is right now until we can think of a way to catch something. Then we'll have to kill it and cook it somehow."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

"Ok." We're both quiet again. Then Brian says, "I see you didn't bring a jacket. Did you bring matches or something to start a fire with? It gets really cold out here at night."

"No."

"That's ok. We can just find a bunch of pine needles to make a bed with. Then we'll cover ourselves with a blanket of pine needles to keep warm. You'll get used to the poking after a while, and hopefully the wolf spiders will leave us alone. Maybe we'll get lucky and find two good sticks to rub together to make a fire. We'll have to have a fire at night to keep the coyotes away. You know, since we don't have a BB gun, or shotgun with us."

I didn't think about all that. When Guthrie and I run away we just walk somewhere and hide.

"Oh no!" He says.

"What?"

"We don't have a canteen! It's easy to get a drink from the river by using your hands as a cup, but we're not near any water right now. I hope you're not thirsty."

I am now! I'm not gonna tell him that though. We keep walking until we come to the river.

"This looks like a good place to stop for lunch. I'm hungry," he says.

"Me too. What are we gonna have?"

"What would you like? Frogs, snakes, lizards, worms?"

"Yuck! Brian, I'm not gonna eat that stuff!"

"Well I'm hungry, so I'm going to find me something good to eat."

"Can't you catch a fish?" I ask.

"Not without a pole. But don't worry, I'll work on making one tonight. Now I think I'll go look for a frog or something else tasty."

I watch him walk to the edge of the river and look around. He catches something and brings it over to me to look at. It's a frog.

"You can't eat that!" I yell.

"Why not?"

"Because you can't!"

"Heidi, if you want to live out here, you're going to have to eat the animals." He holds up the little frog by it's stomach up in the air and right over his open mouth.

"No! Bran don't eat it! Don't eat it!"

He closes his mouth and looks at me.

"Please don't eat it!" I cry.

"I'm hungry and there's nothing else to eat."

"Please don't eat it," I cry.

He puts the frog down on the ground. "Ok, but we better find something good for dinner. Get a good drink of water now, because we're not going to be near a body of water for at least an hour. No crying either. You've got to save your strength for the long walk ahead of us."

I don't think I like running away with Brian. It's too hard. When I run away with Guthrie, we play around and have fun while we walk.

We keep walking and after a while I start to get tired. I'm really hungry too. I'm beginning to wonder if running away is a good idea. "Brian?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Can I have a piggyback ride?"

"Sure, hop on." He stops walking and crouches down a little so I can jump up on his back. I wrap my arms around his neck and he puts his arms under my legs to help hold me up.

"Brian, do you think running away is a good idea?" I ask.

"I think so. Why?"

"I'm just wondering if we should go back."

"Why? Everyone's going to be mad at you, and Adam's mad at me."

"Why's he mad at you?" I ask.

"I didn't finish two of my chores yesterday."

"Oh, he gets _so_ mad at me when I don't do my chores!"

"I know," Brian says. "So see, I can't go back."

"What if you went back and said you were sorry and did your chores? I know he'd forgive you if you did that."

"You're right, I bet he would. But what about you? Everyone's mad at you."

"I don't know how to fix that." Then I say sadly, "I guess I can't go back. I can never go back."

"What if you said you were sorry?"

"They'd still be mad at me."

"But not forever. Right?"

I think about that. "I guess not."

"You guess not? Have they ever stayed mad at you forever before?"

"No."

"Then I don't know why they would now."

"But I keep making people mad. I keep doing bad things."

"You're not perfect Heidi. All I can say about the bad things you do is try your best not to do them. Try to think more about the consequences before you do something. Especially if you know what you are about to do is wrong."

He sounds like Adam. "Brian, I want to get down now."

"Ok."

He lets go of my legs and I let go of his neck and slide down to the ground.

"Should we go home now?" I ask.

"It's up to you. If you want to keep going, I'll go with you. If you want to go home, I'll go there too."

"I think I want to go home now."

"Sounds good to me."

We walk back and I ask him about Whiskerino.

"It was fun," he says.

"Is Laura a good dancer?" I ask.

"Yes. But we couldn't beat Crane and Isabella. They won first place."

"They did?!"

"Yep. Isabella's a good dancer. It looked like they were having a lot of fun together."

"Good. I'm happy for them. I just _knew_ they'd like each other!" I skip a little and then stop to pick up a long stick. "Brian, did you have fun with Laura?"

"Yes."

"How long is she staying for?" I ask as I hit a tree we walk by with my big stick.

"She's going to try to find a job here and live with her uncle."

"She is! That's perfect for you!" I hit another tree we walk by. "Right?"

"I think so. I like her a lot."

"Enough to stop going out with all kinds of different girls every night?" I tease.

"Heidi, I'm warning you, you're treading on thin ice," he says, but I can hear a smile in his voice.

"I don't know what you mean," I tease. "Did you kiss Laura?"

"Yes."

"A looooot?" I ask as I smile. I hit another tree with the stick and it breaks so I leave it on the ground.

"Heidi!"

"What?" I laugh. "Did you."

"That's the end of this conversation _little_ girl!" He says and he picks me up and throws me upside down over his shoulder so I laugh.

"Put me down!" I yell. "I'm not little!" I can't stop laughing and after a while he pulls me down from his shoulder and carries me.

"You are to little," he says.

"Hey! No I'm not! If you say that again I'm going to tickle you!"

"You're little," he says and then he tickles me.

"Stop!" I laugh. I try to tickle him but I can't because he's tickling me and it tickles. I move around a lot trying to get away from his hand but he almost drops me so he sets me down.

I push his back. "You're a big meanie!"

"Yep," he says and I laugh. We walk quietly for a while and I find another big stick to pick up.

"Brian, why do you think Adam and Hannah aren't telling us about the baby?" There's a huge log laying nearby so I whack my stick against it.

"I don't know."

"I wonder what it's gonna be like having a baby around."

"Babies are awful!" Brian says. "I remember when you were a baby. There were so many diapers to change, and the crying!" He throws his hands up in the air. "All the crying!"

"Brian!"

"I'm just teasing."

"Was it hard taking care of a baby?"

"Yes! And it wasn't just a baby, it was a two year old, and a six, seven and eight year old too. That's a lot of little kids!"

"Can you I'm imagine if Daniel had to take care of a baby right now, _and_ four other little kids?"

"No."

"Me either. But that's how old Adam was."

"I know. Life was crazy for a while. It still is crazy with all the people living in our house."

We're close to the house now and I drop my stick and hold Brian's hand and pull on it to make him stop walking.

"What?" He asks.

"I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

"Of everyone being mad at me."

"Oh. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." I feel like crying. "Brian, I need to tell Adam something, but Guthrie will be really mad at me if I do."

"Is it something Adam needs to know about?"

"_I_ think so, but Guthrie doesn't. Guthrie says he'll get in more trouble if I tell Adam what I did."

"What'd you do."

I'm quiet. I don't know if I should tell him. "I don't think I should tell you. Guthrie might get mad if I tell you, but Brian? I feel really bad inside. My stomach hurts because I feel like I'm keeping a big secret. I don't want Guthrie to be mad at me, but I feel bad he got in trouble when it's all my fault!" Now I start to cry.

Brian hugs me and says, "sounds like you've got a big decision to make."

I nod my head and he kneels down in front of me. "What do you think the right thing to do is?"

"To tell."

"Then that's what you should do. It sounds like the person you need to tell is Adam."

"I know." I hug Brian. "Everyone's going to be mad at me!"

"I'm not mad at you."

"I know. You and Crane are the only ones who won't be mad at me."

Brian gives me a squeeze and says, "here comes Adam."

I let go of Brian and turn around. Brian stands up and we wait for Adam to get closer.

"Where have you been?!" He yells.

I don't know if he's talking to me or Brian, so I don't say anything.

"I've been looking all over for you! You haven't done your chores!"

I look up at Brian and he looks down at me and says, "he's talking to you. Bye kid, you'll be fine. Just remember, I'm not mad at you, ok?"

"Ok." Brian leaves and I look up at Adam. "Adam, I'm hungry. I haven't had anything to eat yet."

"Why not? Where have you been? It's almost lunchtime now."

I don't know how to answer that. I stare at him and think. Should I tell him I was running away? I don't know.

"Heidi?"

"What?"

"What do you mean what?! Where have you been?"

I point towards the way I came. "There."

"I don't want to play this guessing game with you. Why were you over _there_ instead of over _here_ eating breakfast and getting your chores done?"

I look down at the ground and say very quietly, "I was running away."

"What?"

"I was running away," I say quietly.

"You were what? Look up at me and tell me so I can hear you."

I keep looking at the ground and I shake my head no.

He kneels down in front of me and says, "look at me Heidi." When I don't, he tries to lift my chin up with his hand but I fight him on that and move my head away from him. He puts both his hands on the sides of my face and holds my head so I have to look at him. "Knock it off! I don't know what's bugging you, but I can tell something is. Start talking." I cry and he says, "what's wrong?"

"Everybody hates me!"

He puts his hands on my shoulders now. "What are you talking about? Who hates you?"

"Everybody! You, Daniel, Guthrie, Evan, Ford, everybody!"

"I don't hate you."

"Yes you do! You said so in my dream last night!"

"Heidi, dreams aren't real. I don't hate you."

"You will when I tell you what I did."

"I'm not going to hate you because you did something I might not like."

"You're going to be mad at me!"

"I don't know if I will, or if I won't. I don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell me?"

"I can't!" I cry. "Guthrie will be mad at me if I tell you!"

"He won't be mad at you."

"Yes he will! I told him I was gonna tell you what I did and he said he would hate me if I told you."

Adam hugs me. "He won't hate you, you know that."

"No I don't! He's really mad!" I cry on Adam's shoulder. "Adam, I'm really sorry!"

"Sorry for what?" He rubs my back.

"I'm sorry for inviting Cleo, Becky and Allison to come over! I'm sorry I made Guthrie call them!" There I said it. I break away from Adam's hug and say, "the party was all my idea! I made Guthrie call because I couldn't use the phone! He didn't want to do it! He called my plan dumb and it was dumb!" Adam hugs me again. "Adam, Guthrie took the blame for me because I was already in trouble for what happened at school, and he didn't want me to be in more trouble! And now he's gonna hate me because I told you!" I cry.

"Guthrie's not going to hate you...,"

I break away from him again so I can look at him. "Yes he is!"

"No he's not. And you didn't make Guthrie do anything. He chose to help you."

"But he didn't want to!"

"Then he should've said no."

I hug Adam again and cry.

I hear Guthrie's voice yelling. "You told!"

I look up to see Guthrie walking over to us.

"You told him, didn't you!"

Adam stands up and says, "Guthrie calm down."

"No! I told her not to tell!" He looks at me now and yells, "I told you not to tell!"

Guthrie looks mad.

"Guthrie, what are you angry about? Tell me why you're mad at Heidi. Tell Heidi why you're mad."

Guthrie looks at me and yells, "I'm mad because you told! I'm mad because you always come up with these dumb plans and I always end up getting in trouble for them!" Now he starts crying. "Now I can't go on the camping trip with Kenny, and it's all because of you!"

"I'm sorry Guthrie," I tell him. I try to wipe the tears away from eyes, but they keep falling.

"You always say that Heidi!"

I look up at Adam because I don't know what to say now. Adam looks at Guthrie and says, "Guthrie, do you think you might be angry at yourself because you helped her?"

"No!"

"Guthrie?" Adam says in his serious voice.

"Adam, I'm sorry I lied to you about the party being my idea," Guthrie says, and he sounds sad. "I wish I didn't do that. I also wished I didn't call the girls for Heidi."

Adam says, "I wish you didn't do that either."

Guthrie glares at me now and yells, "But I'm still mad at you Heidi! I ...I ...I hate you!" After he yells that he runs off towards the house.

"Guthrie! Wait!" I cry. I start to run after him, but Adam grabs me and then kneels down in front of me.

"Let him be Heidi," he says.

I cry and yell at Adam. "See! I told you he would hate me! I told you!"

Adam tries to hug me but I push him away.

"No!" I yell. "I told you Guthrie would hate me and Daniel, Evan and Ford will too!"

"Heidi, come here," he says and he tries to hug me again. This time I punch his chest. I didn't mean to hit him, it just kind of happened. I'm surprised I did that and I feel really bad so I cover my face with my hands and cry into them. I feel Adam hugging me. "Guthrie doesn't hate you. He's just mad right now. And your brothers are going to be mad at you. You did something that hurt them. I'm disappointed too." He moves me so he can look at me. "You knew inviting the girls over was wrong. That's what gets me so angry with you, when you do something you know is wrong. If you hadn't invited them over there wouldn't have been a party. I know you didn't mean for all those kids to come, but if you hadn't invited the girls, the party would've never happened.

"I just thought it would make Evan, Daniel, and Ford happy. They were mad at me and I wanted to make them not mad anymore."

"You can't do that by breaking the rules. Pretend the only kids that came over were the girls. Do you think your brothers would've been happy. They're grounded, they're not supposed to have friends over, and now all of sudden you put them in a position where they have to tell the girls to leave."

"Why?"

Adam sighs. "Because if they don't tell the girls to leave, they get in trouble."

"Only if you find out."

"So it's ok to break the rules if I don't find out?"

I have to think about that. "No?" I ask.

"You don't sound so sure about that answer," he says.

"But if you don't find out, they're happy."

"I'm not happy!"

"Why? You don't know it happened."

I think he's getting mad but I'm not sure. Then he sighs. "Heidi, do you like keeping secrets from me?"

"No, I don't think so."

"So your plan was for the girls to come over for a little while and then leave before Hannah and I came home?"

"Yes."

"That was a big secret to keep from me. Guthrie, Evan, Daniel and Ford would've had to keep it a secret from me too. If I asked you guys what you did last night you would've had to lie to me. Right?"

I nod my head slowly.

"So now your big secret turns into a big lie. Do you feel good when you lie, or bad?"

"I feel bad. That's how I felt last night." I think about how I felt last night. "Hey, I kept a big secret from you last night! That's what you're talking about!"

Adam smiles and says, "yes. Now you're thinking."

"I didn't feel good last night because I wanted to tell you and Hannah so bad. I had bad dreams that everyone hated me and it was awful. I didn't like feeling like that."

"Do you feel better now that you told me?"

I think for a little while. "Yes, and no. Yes, because it does feel better that you know. But no because Guthrie hates me and Daniel, Evan, and Ford will too."

"Guthrie doesn't hate you. He's mad at you."

"He said he hates me."

"Because he's mad. Guthrie could never hate you. Neither could your brothers. But they are going to be mad. The kind of mad where saying you're sorry isn't going to help a whole lot at first. Kind of like a few days ago when Crane was mad at you. Remember that?"

I nod my head. "I didn't like that."

"I remember. Heidi, you hurt your brothers, but do you know who else you hurt?"

"You?"

"Yes, but who else?"

"Hannah?"

"Probably. Who else? Think."

I sigh. "Crane?"

"No."

"Then who? I know Brian's not mad at me."

"What about Cleo, Becky and Allison? You tricked them. They felt bad when they found out they weren't supposed to be here. Then they felt even worse when they found out they weren't supposed to invite other people. They feel really bad Heidi. They feel responsible for the party. But you know what?"

"What?"

"No one would be feeling mad, or bad, or sad if you hadn't called them and invited them over. You wouldn't be feeling like this and neither would they."

"I didn't know I hurt the girls. I didn't think about them. I didn't think about any of this."

"You did too think about it. But you only thought about the good thing you wanted to happen. You didn't think about the bad stuff that might happen, and you certainly didn't think about who was going to get hurt."

"Adam, I'm really sorry. The only way I can think of to fix this is to run away." I hug him.

"Heidi, that's not going to fix anything. You can't run away from this. You're not going to run away from your family are you? We love you."

"Not everyone does."

"Yes they do. They might not be so happy with you right now, but they still love you."

"Adam, I don't like it when people are mad at me."

"Then think about them the next time you come up with one of your _plans_. I don't like these plans you come up with."

My stomach growls and Adam looks at his watch. "Go to the house and eat lunch. Then do your chores. After that you're going into town with me and Hannah."

"Why are we going in to town?"

"We need a few things at the store, and Hannah needs to pick up her pay check."

"Ok." I run towards the house. I guess going into town is better than being here and being around four angry brothers.

* * *

The ride into town isn't that great because Guthrie had to go with us and he's not talking to me. Before we left I heard him tell Adam he didn't want to go because I was going, and Adam told him he was going. Guthrie and I sat in the back seat of the jeep and he looked out on is side of the jeep the whole way there. Adam found a parking spot on Main Street in between Marie's and the General Store.

"I'm going across the street for a minute," he tells Hannah. "I'll meet you in the General."

"Ok. You two come with me," Hannah says.

"Can I go with you Adam?" Guthrie asks.

"Sure."

I watch them walk across the street together and then I catch up to Hannah on her way to Marie's.

When we go inside I sit up at the counter in one of the swivel stools while Hannah goes around back.

"Why the long face?" Marie asks. She comes over to me and starts wiping the counter.

"Guthrie's mad at me."

"Oh. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Daniel, Evan and Ford are mad at me too."

"I'm sorry. I'm sure they won't stay mad for long."

I shrug my shoulders.

"How about some ice cream to cheer you up?"

"We have to go the the General after Hannah gets her check," I tell her.

"Well, I'm sure I can find a cone in the back, then you can take the ice cream with you. I'll ask Hannah if you can some."

I smile at her. "Thanks Marie."

I spin around on the stool while I wait for her to come back. When she does come back Hannah is with her and Marie is carrying a vanilla ice cream cone.

"I knew I had a cone in the back." She hands it to me and says, "maybe this will help cheer you up."

I take it and tell her thank you and then I jump down from the stool.

"Bye Marie," Hannah says. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." Then I follow Hannah out of the restaurant and down to the store.

* * *

When we get to the store Hannah tells me to sit on the wooden bench that's just outside the store doors. "Come inside when you're finished with your ice cream, and don't go anywhere while you're out here. Stay on the bench."

"I will," I tell her, and I sit down while she goes inside.

When Adam and Guthrie get to the store Guthrie asks, "where'd you get that?"

"Marie." I hold out the cone to him. "You can have the rest if you want." Maybe then he'll like me.

"No thanks. I don't want to get your cooties." He walks into the store and Adam reminds me to stay on the bench.

I feel sad. Guthrie should be sitting out here with me eating his own ice cream cone. I sigh and look down the street. It's also boring sitting out here alone. I watch all the cars driving by and all the people walking by. I wave to all the people I know which is pretty much everyone. Then I see that mean bully Gary walking with a kid from our school. He hasn't made it to the store yet and he doesn't see me. He walks with his friend and they turn onto the little side street that's just before the store. I think I'll go follow him for a little bit. After all, I did tell him I would get back at him, and because we're not at school we won't get suspended if we fight.

I get up off the bench and walk to the side street. When I turn the corner I stop and run back to the corner. Him and his friend aren't walking anymore. They're talking. I peek around the corner of the store to watch. I wonder if I could fight both of them. I can't hear what they're talking about and now a third boy comes walking up to them from the other end of the side street. As he gets closer I can see it's Gary's older brother Rick. I'm scared of him. He's really mean. I guess that means I can't get Gary back today. I watch Rick get closer and his face looks really mad. It's scary looking.

"Scram kid!" Rick tells the boy Gary is with. The kid runs away fast and Rick walks up to Gary and pushes him. "I want my money back!"

Gary looks scared. "I don't have your money!" He yells and Rick pushes him again.

"I know you stole it so just give it back!"

"Honest Rick, I don't have it!" Gary looks really scared now.

"You little weasel! Give it back or you're gonna be sorry!"

I stare at them and Rick looks so mean and Gary looks so scared. I feel sorry for him. Gary starts to cry. "Rick, I don't have it!"

"Liar!" Rick punches Gary in the face. Hard.

"Stop Rick!" Gary cries.

Then Rick starts punching Gary a lot! Gary tries to cover his face with his hands and Rick punches his stomach and pushes him up against the brick wall of the General Store. Gary is crying a lot and I feel so bad. Rick keeps punching him until Gary's nose is bleeding and he's crouched down low on the sidewalk trying to shield himself from Rick. Rick kicks him now over and over.

"Stop!" He cries. I start crying too. Why won't he stop? Rick kicks him a few more times and then stops and stands over Gary.

"Crybaby!" He yells. "You're such a wimp Gary! You owe me a dollar!" Then he walks away from Gary and towards Main Street. The street I'm on. I press myself against the store wall and hope he doesn't come this way. He doesn't. He walks down the other side of the street and doesn't see me.

I peek around the corner again to look at Gary. He's still sitting on the ground wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve. He's still crying pretty hard and so am I. I feel so sorry for him. I don't want to fight him now. His brother was so mean to him. I can't even imagine one of my brothers doing that to me. I don't even now if Gary stole Rick's money, he shouldn't have beat him up like that. I try to wipe my tears away, but they keep falling. I wish Gary would get up. I hope he's ok. I wish I could go ask him if he's ok, but I can't. I feel so sorry for him. Finally he gets up. He tries to stand up slowly but his stomach must be hurting him bad, because he can't stand up all the way. He's hunched over holding his stomach and crying. Rick kicked him pretty hard. All of a sudden he looks up and sees me staring at him.

I drop my ice cream cone. It was all melted anyway because I couldn't move while I watched Rick beat up Gary.

"What are you looking at?!" Gary yells.

I don't know what to say. I still feel so sorry for him. I wipe my tears away and stare at him sadly.

"I said what are you looking at?!" Gary stands all the way up now and starts making his way over to where I'm standing. He's limping a little bit.

I'm frozen. I can't move and I can't talk. It's like my legs are stuck and my mouth is frozen shut. Gary stares at me and he looks mad and he looks mean. I think he's going to beat me up!

"Are you happy you saw my brother beat me up?! I'm gonna beat you up now! I hate you!"

When he gets close I brace my body with my arms at my side and my hands in tight fists, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I brace for his punch. I don't care how much it hurts, I'm not gonna punch him back. The first punch hurts and hits me right in the eye. The next one hits my nose and I know it's bleeding because I can feel something wet dripping from it. I keep my eyes closed and my hands at my sides the whole time and the next punch is to my stomach and makes me fall backwards onto my butt. Then I hear yelling so I open my eyes.

"Get off of her!" A man yells. He's holding Gary away from me and I recognize him. It's Mr. Johnson. "Are you ok Heidi?" He asks me.

I look up at him and nod my head. I'm crying and I wipe my nose with my sleeve. I look at the sleeve and there's blood on it.

"From the looks of you two I'd say you were fighting for a while. It's a wonder nobody stopped you sooner!" He looks at Gary. "Shame on you for hitting a girl! Although, it looks like she got you good."

I don't know what he's talking about. I feel my face a little and wince when I touch my cheek. It hurts. Mr. Johnson holds a hand out to me to help me up and when he does that Gary takes off running down the side street.

"Coward!" Mr. Johnson says. "That family sure is a mess!" He looks at me and says, "where's your family?"

I point to the store. "In there."

"Who?"

"Adam, Hannah and Guthrie."

"I'm going in to get them. Sit over there on the bench."

I walk back to the bench and sit down. I start to cry again. My head hurts and I'm not really sure what just happened. Adam comes rushing out of the store with Mr. Johnson following behind him.

"What happened?!" Adam yells. He sits down on the bench next to me and holds my chin up so he can look at my face.

"Her and that Sloan kid were at it pretty good. I pulled him off of her, but they both looked pretty bad."

Adam glares at me and says to Mr. Johnson, "thanks for helping."

"No problem. I know kids fight sometimes, but that Sloan family is unbelievable! The way they pick on girls doesn't make any sense to me."

"I know. We've been having a problem with the two younger boys," Adam tells him.

"If those were my boys I'd..., never mind. Things were different back when I raised my boys. Well, good luck Adam." He tips his cowboy hat to Adam and then to me. "Make sure you get some ice on that eye of yours soon. You're going to have a pretty good shiner."

Guthrie and Hannah come running over.

"What happened?" Hannah asks.

"She was fighting," Adam tells her. "I guess her and that Gary kid were at it pretty good."

"I'll say," Hannah says. She lifts my chin up and says, "let's get you home and get some ice on that black eye of yours."

I nod my head and stand up. Then Hannah asks Adam and Guthrie to go inside the store and bring the groceries out to the jeep while she leads me down the street.

* * *

I cry quietly the whole way home. A little bit because my face hurts, but mostly I'm crying because I keep seeing Rick beat Gary up over and over again in my mind. How could his brother be so mean to him? They're brothers. I can't wait to tell Adam what I saw.

When we get home Hannah tells me to come inside with her and Adam and Guthrie bring the groceries in. Once I walk into the kitchen I sit down on a chair at the table. Evan and Ford are sitting at the table eating.

"What happened to you?" Ford asks.

"Jeez Heidi," Evan says.

Hannah gets an ice pack out of the freezer and hands it to me. She goes to the sink and gets a rag wet. When she brings it over she lifts my chin up and starts wiping the dried blood off my face. I don't like it so I move my face around trying to get away from the rag but she sticks with it. When Adam and Guthrie bring the groceries in they set them on the table. Then Adam looks at me.

"I can't believe you got in a fight today!"

Why is he mad at me?

"You know I don't like you fighting! We _just_ talked about that!"

He thinks I was fighting? I got beat up, I didn't fight! "Adam, I didn't...," I try to tell him, but Adam doesn't let me.

"I don't want to hear any excuses Heidi! I am so angry and disappointed in you! Go up to your room and stay in there. After I help put these groceries away I'll be up there to talk to you, only I don't think I'm going to be doing much talking!"

What does that mean? Does he mean he's not gonna talk much because he's gonna yell instead of talk, or worse, something else? Oh no! I'm not gonna get in trouble for getting beat up. I leave the kitchen and instead of going upstairs, I quietly open the front door and sneak outside. I definitely want to run away now. I'm going to go find Brian or Crane. They're the only ones that aren't mad at me. Hopefully they'll listen to me and run away with me. Otherwise I'll just have to run away by myself.


	20. Chapter 20

Where are they? I've looked for Crane and Brian in the barn, and behind it. I can see the truck so I know they didn't drive anywhere and there aren't any horses gone so they have to be around here somewhere. I know! The back of the house!

I run around back and sure enough there they are. They're working on Hannah's garden. It looks like there putting a bunch of dirt in it. I run up to them.

"Hey munchkin," Crane says. He's shoveling some dirt so and he doesn't stop to look at me.

"I have to talk to you guys!"

Brian stops working and holds his shovel up to lean on it. "What's up kid?" He looks at me and says, "whoa! What happened?! Who did that to you?!" He drops his shovel and walks over to me.

Crane stops working to look at me too. "Oh my gosh Heidi!" He throws his shovel down and comes over and kneels down in front of me. He lifts up my chin. "That's some shiner! What happened?"

I start crying and talking really fast. "I got beat up when we went into town and Adam thinks I was fighting and I wasn't and now he's mad and I want to run away!"

Crane hugs me and says, "what? You're talking too fast, I can't understand you. You got beat up?"

"Yes! Only Adam doesn't believe me, he..,"

"Wait," Crane says, "what do you mean he doesn't believe you? It's seems like you got beat up to me."

"He wouldn't let me talk. He told me to go to my room. He thinks I was fighting, but I wasn't! Honest, I wasn't!"

"Wait a minute," Brian says. "He told you to go to your room and you came out here? Does he know you're out here?"

"No! And I don't care! I'm running away! I came to see if you would go with me, do you want to?"

Brian sighs and says, "Heidi, I thought we settled this earlier. It's not going to help to run away."

"No," Crane says. "When Adam finds out what happened, I'm sure he won't be mad at you."

"But he won't even let me tell him what happened!" I grab Crane's hand and pull on it. "Come on! Come with me!"

"Stop," he says and he breaks his hand away and puts his hands on my sides. "Why don't you start by telling us what happened. How did you get beat up?"

"There's no time to! He's gonna find out I'm not in my room and come looking for me!" I try to break away from Crane, but he won't let me.

"Stop Heidi! Let us help you," he says.

It's too late. We look over towards the front of the house because we hear Adam calling my name.

"See, he's coming! Let me go! Let me go!" I cry while trying to get away.

"You hold her Crane, I'll go talk to Adam," Brian says. He walks towards Adam as Adam is walking towards us fast.

"Heidi, get over here!" He yells.

Crane picks me up and holds me while I cry. I watch Brian meet him and stop him from walking.

"Hold up Adam!" Brian says. "She's scared! She...,"

"I know she's scared! She's in trouble!" Adam looks over towards me and Crane and yells, "you're supposed to be in your room!"

I cry and wrap my arms around Crane's neck and squeeze him tight. "Heidi," he says, "don't squeeze so hard." He rubs my back while I cry and whispers, "calm down."

I can hear Brian tell Adam to calm down as they get closer to me and Crane. "Adam, calm down and just listen to her. Give her a chance to explain."

"Is there something you want to tell me Heidi?" Adam asks.

I look at him and nod my head. "I didn't fight today."

"Then why did Mr. Johnson say Gary was beat up?"

"Because he was. But I didn't do it. I swear!"

"You expect me to believe you just stood still and let Gary beat you up?!"

I nod my head and Crane says quietly, "if I were you I wouldn't lie right now."

"I'm not lying! I let him beat me up!" I yell.

"Come on kid, even I don't believe that!" Brian says.

"It's the truth! I'm not lying!" I cry. "See! This is why I wanted to run away!"

"You're not running away!" Adam yells. "You're gonna get back inside the house and go wait for me in your room!"

Crane starts walking towards the house with me. "I'll take her inside. Why don't you stay out here for a little while and calm down."

"You believe me, don't you Crane?" I ask as he carries me to the back door. I can hear Brian and Adam yelling. When we get inside everyone looks at me.

"There you are," Hannah says. "Adam is looking for you."

"We know," Crane says.

"Hannah, Adam won't believe me! I didn't fight today! I got beat up!"

"_You_ didn't fight?" Daniel asks.

Evan adds, "come on Heidi."

"It's true!"

Hannah says, "leave her alone. Heidi, why don't you go up to your room where you're supposed to be. I'm sure Adam will let you explain, but I know he wants you in your room right now."

"I'll take her up," Crane says. He carries me out of the kitchen and to the stairs.

Hannah follows us and says, "I'll go up with you."

Good. If anyone can keep Adam calm, it's Hannah.

* * *

Once we're in my room, Crane sets me down on my bed and then he sits down on it next to me.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I ask.

Hannah sits on the other side of me and says, "I want to believe you, but it's hard to."

Crane says, "I've never known you to 'not' fight. Why didn't you fight today?"

I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know. I just didn't feel like it. It was like my body wouldn't move."

"That's strange," Hannah says.

"Yes," Crane says. "You didn't fight _at all_?"

I shake my head no.

"That's hard to believe," Adam says. I look at my doorway and he's standing in it. His arms are folded across his chest and he's looking at me with his serious face. "Can you two leave so I can talk to Heidi alone?"

"Can Hannah stay?" I ask.

"Sure, I'll stay," Hannah says and she puts her arm around me.

Adam comes in my room now and stands in front of me. I look up at him and say, "honest, Adam, I didn't fight Gary today. I know you don't believe me, but I really didn't. I can beat Gary up before he even hits me once. I've beat him up lots of times."

"Then how come Mr. Johnson said Gary looked like he was beat up."

"He was already beat up before he beat me up."

I can tell Adam is thinking about what I just said. "Heidi," he says, "if I believe you, and I'm not saying I do, why would you ever 'let' him beat you up?"

"I don't know. It was like my body couldn't move."

"I don't understand that," Adam says. "Has that ever happened to you before?"

"No, never! I always beat people up if they're gonna beat me up. I even punch them first. Adam, I really didn't beat Gary up. I wish you would believe me."

"I wish I could too Heidi, but this just isn't like you. You've been known to lie before too."

I start to cry. "I'm not lying!" I stand up on my bed so I can look at my face in the mirror above my dresser. "Why would I let him do this to me?" My face looks pretty bad.

"I don't know Heidi. Right now I don't know what to think. I want you to stay in your room until dinner. Maybe you'll be ready to talk more later tonight."

"But, Adam! I ...,"

"No, I don't want to talk about it now. I want you to stay in here and think, don't leave this room. Do you hear me?"

I nod my head.

"You're not running away today, ok?"

I nod my head again. Hannah gets up and leaves with Adam. As soon as they're gone I close my bedroom door and sit down on my bed. I look around my room for something to do. I guess I only have two choices. I can draw or I can read. I decide to draw so I look under my bed for my markers. Hopefully they're all in the box. Underneath my bed is a mess, but that's because my room is so small. The only place I have to put things is on my dresser, on the wooden chair that sits by my dresser, or under my bed. I find my markers and pull them out.

I hope I have some paper somewhere. I look at the stack of books on my chair. I think there's some paper under them so I move the books to the floor and find one piece of paper. I already drew on it, but I can draw on the back. I look at the horse I drew on the front. Horses are my favorite thing to draw. I turn the paper over and stare at it. I don't feel like drawing a horse right now. I think about what I want to draw and I can't think of anything. I keep thinking about Rick beating up Gary. I keep seeing it play over and over in my mind. Maybe I could draw that. I keep the paper on the chair and dump all the markers out of the box and onto the floor. I pick up the red marker and take the cap off. Then I kneel in front of the chair and hold my paper down with my left hand to keep it from moving when I draw.

I take my red marker and draw the General Store. It's made of brick so that's why I use the color red. Then I draw Gary laying on the ground with a blue maker. I draw tears on his face and blood on his nose. Then I think about what color to draw Rick with. I decide on black. I draw him really big. He looks like a giant, especially compared to Gary laying on the ground. I draw a mad face on Rick. Then I draw his leg kicking Gary's stomach. There. I look at my drawing. It's missing something. I don't know what it is but I know it's definitely missing something. I know! I pick up a yellow marker and draw a girl with it. I make her face look sad and I draw tears on her cheeks. Now I look at my picture and I know it's finished. I pick it up and lay down on the floor with it. I stare at it while I think about what happened. I'm really tired because it's been a long, exhausting day. I cried a lot today and that always makes me tired. I turn on to my side and lay the picture next to me. Then I close my eyes and fall asleep.

* * *

"Heidi, it's dinnertime," I hear someone say. I feel someone gently shaking me. I open my eyes and I'm surprised to find myself laying on the floor. I see the picture I drew and then I remember why I'm on the floor. I look up and see Crane kneeling on the floor next to me. "It's dinnertime Heidi," he says again. "Wake up." He picks up my drawing and looks at it. "What's this?"

I sit up and take it from his hands. "It's nothing," I tell him. I push it under my bed.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I stand up and he does too. We walk downstairs together and I don't talk. I'm really tired. If I wasn't so hungry I probably would've stayed in my room and slept. When I walk into the kitchen I go over to my chair and sit down at the table. I'm the only one at the table because everyone else is helping Hannah put dinner on the table. I feel too tired to help.

"You look tired," Brian says when he sets a glass of milk near my plate.

I nod my head. I don't feel like talking and that's ok because no one seems to notice. They're busy talking about ranch stuff. When everyone is sitting at the table I look at Guthrie and he looks away so I sigh. I guess he's still mad at me. I hurry up and eat my dinner so I can be excused. Before I leave the table Hannah asks me if I'm ok and I nod my head. I put my dishes in the sink and leave.

* * *

I'm pretty sure Adam wants me to be in my room after dinner so that's where I go. I pick up a book to read and lay down on my bed with it. When I finish that one I get another one. I'm halfway through it when I notice Adam standing in my doorway. I close the book and sit up and lean against my headboard.

"We have a lot to talk about," he says as he comes in and sits on the bed next to me. He sits so he can look at me and I stare at him. "What happened today when we were in town?"

"I got beat up."

"Explain that to me."

I don't know what to say to that except the same thing I just said, so I say it again. "I got beat up."

"You're not telling me what happened. From what you're saying it sounds like you just stood there and let Gary hit you."

I nod my head and he shakes his.

"I can't see you standing there doing nothing while he punches you. That doesn't make any sense to me."

I shrug my shoulders. "That's what happened. Adam, I'm not lying."

He sighs and looks at the markers laying on the floor. "Crane said you drew a picture and he thought I should look at it."

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know. Where is it?"

I don't think I want to show him so I stare at him.

"Where is it Heidi? I want to look at it."

I stare at him and he sighs and gets up off the bed. He looks on the dresser and then he crouches down to look under my bed. I quickly get off my bed and try to grab the picture out of his hand as he brings it out from under the bed.

"Don't look at it!" I yell. I can't reach it because he holds it away from me and looks at it.

"What's this a picture of?" He asks.

I don't say anything. I don't think I want to tell him. It feels like it should be a secret. I don't know why, it just does.

"Tell me about your picture Heidi," he says as he sits on the floor and leans back against my bed. "It looks like two people fighting." He points to the drawing of Gary and asks, "is this you?"

I shake my head no.

"Who is it Heidi?"

"I don't want to tell you," I say quietly. I'm standing next to him so he looks up and says, "why not? Are you afraid to tell me?"

I shrug my shoulders. I don't know why I don't want to tell him, I just don't.

"Who's this big person?" He asks pointing to the picture of Rick. "It looks like he's angry and he's kicking this little person. Is that why the little person is crying?"

I nod my head.

"And who's this?" He points to the picture of the girl. "It looks like a girl. Is it a girl?"

"Yes."

"It looks like she's crying Heidi. Why is she crying?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"Is this a picture of something that really happened?"

I nod my head.

"Did this happen today?"

I nod my head again slowly.

"Tell me the names of the people in your picture."

I shake my head no really fast back and forth.

"Heidi, I need you to tell me about this picture. Who are the people?" He's quiet for a while while he looks at the picture. I can tell he's thinking. He points to the picture of Gary. "If this isn't you, is it Gary?" He looks at me and I stare back at him. He looks back at the picture and says, "so this is Gary." Now he points to Rick. "Who is this Heidi? He looks really angry. Who's beating up Gary?"

I stare at him and he sighs. "Is it you?" He asks.

I shake my head back and forth really fast.

"Heidi, I need you to tell me who it is." He looks in my eyes and I feel like crying. Very quietly I whisper, "Rick."

"What? I couldn't hear you Heidi. Who is it"

I whisper Rick's name again.

"Heidi you know you can trust me right?" I nod my head. "I can't hear the name you're saying. Can you please say it louder?"

"It's Rick," I say quietly.

"Gary's brother Rick?"

I nod my head.

"So this is a picture of Rick beating up Gary?"

I nod my head.

"Who's this?" He asks as he points to the girl I drew.

I shrug my shoulders.

Adam looks closely at the picture and then asks, "is this you?"

I don't say anything, and when he looks at me my eyes start to water.

"It is you. Heidi, what are you afraid of? Why won't you talk to me about this?"

"I didn't like it," I say quietly.

"You didn't like what?" He looks at the picture again. "This?" He looks at me and I nod my head. "Talk to me Heidi. Tell me what's bugging you. I know something is."

"He was so mean," I say quietly.

"Who was? Rick?"

"Yes!" I cry. "He kept hitting him and kicking him and he wouldn't stop! Gary was telling him to stop, but he wouldn't! Adam, they're brothers!" I cry and he pulls me to him and I hug him and cry on his shoulder. "Rick was so mean to Gary! I felt so sorry for him!"

"I'm sorry Heidi." He takes his hand and smoothes my hair back.

I move my head off his shoulder so I can look at him. "Adam, he made Gary bleed and he made him cry. I didn't like it! Gary was crying after Rick left and when Gary saw me looking at him he got mad and beat me up! I didn't want to hit him Adam!"

"Jeez Heidi. So you just stood there and let him hit you? I'm so sorry. I wish you would've told us about all this sooner. Why did you keep all this inside?"

"I don't know." I lay my head back on his shoulder. "Adam, how come Rick beat Gary up when he's his brother?"

"I don't know Heidi."

"I'm glad we don't fight like that."

"Me too."

I move my head so I can look at Adam again. "Guess what they were fighting about. A dollar! Rick thought Gary took a dollar from him!"

"Wow. I feel sorry for those kids. But Heidi, I want you to look at me now." He moves my face so I'm looking at him. "You have to let us help you. You have to tell us when something's bothering you so we can help you. We're your family. Do you understand?"

I nod my head. "Adam, I don't ever want to hit Guthrie again. Sometimes when I get mad at him I push him or I hit him. I don't ever want to do that again!"

"Good."

"Adam, I don't ever want to hurt Guthrie like Rick hurt Gary."

"Heidi, you could never do that. I know you would never hurt Guthrie like that."

"Adam, I wish Guthrie wasn't mad at me right now. I feel really sad."

"Give him some time. One of the great things about Guthrie is he doesn't hold a grudge. You two never seem to stay mad at each other for long. I love watching you two make up. That's one of the reasons I had Guthrie come into town with us. I thought it would give you some time to make up, but I guess Guthrie needs a little more time."

I hug Adam and look down at the picture I drew. It's laying on the floor. "Adam do you think Gary's sad right now? Or do you think Rick said he was sorry?"

"I don't know," he says.

"I hope they made up."

"Me too, Heidi. Me too." He rubs my back a little and then says, "let's go see what Hannah made for dessert."

"Ok." I get up off of Adam and he picks the picture up off the floor and stands up. I wonder what he's gonna do with the picture. We walk out of my room together and it sounds like everyone is still at the table eating. Everyone except for Guthrie. He's siting at the bottom of the stairs. He looks up at us as we walk down the stairs. When I get closer to him he stops me.

"Heidi, can I talk to you?" He asks.

I nod my head and sit down next to him on the stairs.

"Heidi, I'm sorry I said I hated you. I don't hate you."

"I'm sorry I keep coming up with dumb plans. I don't mean for you to get in trouble."

"I know. It's my fault for always helping you. Even though your plans are dumb and they never work, they're still fun to do," he says.

We look at each other and smile. Then we hug each other.

"Heidi, did you really get beat up today without hitting Gary back?"

I nod my head and tell him everything I saw. "Guthrie, I don't ever want to hit or push you again!"

"I don't want to do that to you either!"

We hug each other and then I ask him what was for dessert.

"I don't know. I came out here right after you left. I bet there's still some left."

We smile at each other and get up and run into the kitchen.

* * *

Dessert is apple pie with ice cream and Guthrie and I are glad we went back in to get some. Adam is showing the picture I drew to everyone and they're talking about it. We sit down at the table and Hannah puts a scoop of ice cream on each of our plates.

"Thank you Hannah."

"You're welcome. Oh...," Hannah sits down really fast and Guthrie and I look at each other.

"Are you ok?" Guthrie asks.

I look down at Adam, but he didn't notice.

"I'm fine," she says. "I just got a little dizzy there for a minute."

Guthrie stands up and says, "let me put the ice cream back in the freezer." He takes the container from Hannah and puts the lid on it.

"Hannah, do you want to go lie down?" I ask her.

"No, I'm fine. Really, I am. Don't worry about me."

She doesn't look fine. She looks white as a ghost and she looks really, really tired. "Hannah, Guthrie and I will do the dishes tonight. You should go lie down."

"Yeah," Guthrie says. "Let us do the dishes."

"Thank you. I'll get one or two of your brothers to help you. Now eat your dessert before your ice cream melts." She gives us a tiny smile and I can tell she doesn't feel good at all, but I eat my dessert and listen to the conversation at the other end of the table.

"How could a brother do that to another brother?" Ford asks.

"Well, you guys know what it's like to be mad at each other," Adam says. "Sometimes you get physical with each other, but never like what Heidi described. I can't imagine living in a house where it's ok to beat somebody up like that."

"I can't even imagine us treating each other like that," Daniel says. "Sure we get mad at each other and we've had our share of fist fights and wrestling with each other, but nothing to the extent of what Rick did to Gary. And we _always_ apologize afterward."

"Maybe they apologized to each other when they got home," Guthrie says. Everyone looks at him and then at me.

"Heidi," Brian says, "why didn't you tell us about this?" He holds my picture up a little and I shrug my shoulders.

"Yeah," Crane says, "that's important for us to know about. You need to talk to us when you see bad things like this happen. It obviously affected you deeply for you to draw a picture like this."

"I think that's her way of telling us," Hannah says.

"I can't believe you just stood there and let Gary beat you up like that," Evan says.

"My feet wouldn't move. I didn't want to hurt him either, so I just let him punch me."

Brian shakes his head. "I wish I would've been there. I would've pulled that Rick kid right off his brother and knocked some sense into him!"

"You know you can't do that," Adam says. "He's a kid and you're an adult."

"You probably would've gotten thrown in jail," Guthrie says.

"That's where Gary's dad is," I tell them. "He's in jail."

"That's so sad," Hannah says. Then she stands up and says, "I'm going to go lay down for a little while. Guthrie and Heidi offered to do the dishes for me. Do one of you want to help them?"

Daniel is the closest to Hannah right now and he stands up quickly and rushes over to her. He takes her arm. "Do you need help?"

"No, no. Don't be silly. I just need to lie down. I'm perfectly able to walk to the couch." She brushes Daniel off. Pretty much everyone says they'll help me and Guthrie with the dishes so Adam gets up to help Hannah.

"I'm fine Adam. Honest. You just help clean up the mess in here. I just need to rest for a little while. It's nothing a short nap won't fix."

We all watch her leave the kitchen and go into the living room. Adam looks worried, but he sits back down. The rest of us look at each other and hope Hannah is ok. Since we know she's pregnant we're worried too.

Crane says quietly, "Adam, when are you going to tell us Hannah's pr...,"

All of a sudden there's a loud crash from the living room. We all jump up and run in there. I can see Hannah laying on the floor. There's an end table and a lamp laying on the floor next to her. Adam, Brian and Crane rush to her side. Hannah's eyes are opened and I ear her say quietly, "Adam, I don't feel so good."

Guthrie and I look at each other and he says, "I hope she's not losing the baby."

"Me too," I say quietly and the tears start falling.


	21. Chapter 21

Hannah is laying on the floor looking up at Adam. Adam is by her side and he helps her sit up. Crane is at Hannah's other side and the rest of us are crowded around hoping Hannah's ok.

"What happened?" Adam asks.

"I felt dizzy and thought I was going to fall so I grabbed onto the end table to help hold me up."

"Do you feel dizzy now?" Crane asks.

"Yes, a little. I think I should lie down on the couch."

"No, I'm going to take you to the hospital," Adam tells her.

"No, I don't need to go there. I'm fine," she says as she tries to get up.

Crane says, "Hannah, we're all worried about you. You need to go to the hospital. We don't want you to lose the baby."

"Yeah, Hannah," Daniel says. "We don't want you to lose the baby."

"What baby?" Adam asks. He's looking at Hannah when he asks that. "You're pregnant?" He stands up fast and starts to lift her up. "Why didn't you tell me? We've got to get you to the hospital fast!"

"Wait!" Hannah says. "I'm not pregnant! Why do you think I'm pregnant?" Adam lays her down again and kneels by her side.

"We've known for days," Evan says. "You don't have to pretend anymore."

"I'm not pregnant," Hannah says.

"You're not?" Adam asks her.

"No. Adam, I would've told you." She looks around at all of us and says, "I would've told all of you. I wouldn't keep it a secret. Whatever made you think I was pregnant?"

Now everyone's looking at me. "I thought she was," I say quietly. "When they were fighting Adam said he wants her to stay home with the baby and not work."

"When she _is_ pregnant," Adam says to me. Then he looks at everyone. "You guys all thought Hannah was pregnant because Heidi told you she was?" He starts laughing.

Some of my brothers nod, some groan, and some say they should've known better. Then they all start laughing and Brian picks me up and says, "you've gotta stop eavesdropping."

Hannah tries to get up again, but Adam stops her. "Crane, get the truck ready. Daniel, open the front door." Then he picks Hannah up by putting one arm under her knees and one arm under her back to cradle her, and as he lifts her up she wraps her arms around his neck.

He carries her towards the door and Brian says, "call us when you hear something."

"I will," he says and we all follow him outside onto the porch and watch him carry Hannah out to the truck.

"Is Hannah gonna be ok?" I ask Brian.

"I hope so."

I hope so too. I watch the truck drive away and we all go back inside and shut the door.

* * *

It's a quiet night. After we cleaned up the kitchen we all came into the living room and sat on the couches. Daniel plays a song on his guitar and Brian plays along with him on his harmonica. Guthrie and I sit next to each other and listen. It's a quiet sounding song. One that you don't dance fast to, but slow dance to. Evan and Ford are listening to.

"When will Adam call?" I ask.

"Not for a while," Evan says. "It's gonna take them at least an hour and a half to get to Sonora. Then they'll have to wait in the emergency room for who knows how long. It's gonna be a while Heidi."

We're quiet again while we listen to the song. When that one's over, Daniel starts a new one. He plays song after song until I don't know how many he's played, and my eyes start to close. I try to keep them open, but it's hard. I finally get up and go sit next to Ford where I curl up and he lets me lay my head on his lap.

* * *

I jump awake when the phone rings. I think everyone was asleep because no one answers it at first. Brian gets up and stumbles over to the desk. He picks up the phone and says hello.

I sit up to listen and rub my eyes. Brian's not talking much, he's mostly listening. He says yes a few times and then hangs up the phone.

"Well," Daniel says, "is she ok?"

"She's gonna be fine," Brian says. He tells us what was wrong with her and I don't understand any of it. When Brian says she had to get a shot I want to know more about that.

"Why'd she get a shot?"

"She needed iron."

I don't know what that means and I don't get to ask because everyone else is asking Brian questions too. When Brian says it's time for bed I don't want to go upstairs so he walks over to me and picks me up.

As he carries me up the stairs I rest my head on his shoulder and when we walk by Adam and Hannah's room I ask if I can sleep in there.

"I guess so." Brian takes me in and lays me on the bed. He turns the lamp on and sits down on the bed.

"Will you sleep with me?"

"Sure."

I get under the covers and Brian climbs over me and lays next to me. I turn onto my side to face the door and Brian puts his arm around me and I scoot backwards so I can snuggle against him. "Brian, I hope Hannah's ok."

"She is." He smoothes my hair back and then I feel him kiss the back of my head. "She's going to be fine, Heidi."

It doesn't take long before I fall asleep.

* * *

When I wake up it's because I hear the phone ringing. Brian jumps out of bed and runs to the phone in the hallway. His phone conversation is a lot like last night's. A whole lot of yeses and oks. When he hangs up I hear Daniel ask, "what's going on?"

"She's still fine. They want to run some tests today and keep her overnight again after the procedure they're going to do later today."

"I can't believe she was actually pregnant," Evan says.

"Yeah well, she's not anymore and Adam doesn't want Guthrie and Heidi to know she ever was."

I wonder why?

Ford says, "I don't understand how she didn't know she was pregnant."

"I don't understand any of it either," Brian says. "All I know is, she was and she's not anymore."

"When do we get to go see her?" Daniel asks.

"Adam said later today. He wants everyone to go to school."

"What?!" Evan says. "How can we go to school while Hannah's in the hospital?"

"That's what he wants you to do. He said there's nothing to do at the hospital, so there's no reason to come now. We'll go visit her after school. I mean, _you'll_ go after school. I'm gonna go around nine o'clock this morning and then the three of you will go after school. Adam doesn't want Guthrie or Heidi to go. They won't even let Heidi go in Hannah's room because you have to be twelve to visit, so Adam thought it would be best for both of them to stay home."

What?! That's not fair. I miss Hannah and I want to go see her. Guthrie's not gonna be happy either.

Evan says, "Brian, can't we stay home today? We're already late. We can help you on the ranch since Adam and Crane aren't here."

"I guess so. I'm gonna wake up Heidi and Guthrie," Brian says.

I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep.

"Heidi, it's time to wake up," Brian says. He sits on the bed and shakes me gently. I open my eyes and look up at him.

"Is Hannah home?" I ask.

"No."

"When's she coming home?"

"Tomorrow."

"Why can't she come home now?"

"They need to do some tests and she needs to rest."

"Why can't she rest here? What's wrong with her and when do I get to go see her?"

Brian smiles at me and says, "that's too many questions. Get up and get ready for school. I'm going to get Guthrie up and make you some breakfast. Then I'll drive you to school."

"I don't think I'm supposed to go to school without Adam," I remind him.

"Oh, right."

"I'm probably suspended so I might as well stay home."

"No, I'll take you to school. I'll talk to the principal," he says.

"Ok, but I don't think he's gonna like that."

"Let me worry about that."

I get up out of bed and walk down the hall to my room. I run into Guthrie on the way there.

"Good you're up," Brian says to him. "I'll make a quick breakfast for you and them we'll leave."

After Brian goes downstairs, I tell Guthrie everything I overheard.

"But that's not fair!" He yells. "I want to see her too! I'm glad she's going to be ok, but I want to see her."

"Me too. But be quiet. Adam told Brian he doesn't want us to know anything."

"Why not? I'm old enough! It's not like I'm ten!"

"Hey! _I'm_ ten!"

"Oh right. It's not like I'm eight then!"

"Yeah! We're a part of this family too, and I don't want to be left out!"

Guthrie looks at me and I can tell he's thinking of something. "Get ready for school Heidi. Quick! I've got a plan."

"A plan for what?"

"A plan that'll get us to see Hannah today."

"Ok!" I run into my room and slam my door shut. I can't wait to find out about Guthrie's plan!

* * *

Brian drives us to school in the jeep. Guthrie makes me sit in the back with him so he can tell me his plan. He waits until Brian turns the radio on and then he talks quietly to me.

"We're gonna ditch school," he says.

"What?!" I yell.

Guthrie puts his hand over my mouth and Brian yells back, "what?"

"Nothing!" Guthrie yells to him. "Just keep listening to the radio."

When he puts his hand down I say, "what are you talking about? We can't ditch school! What are you gonna do, walk to the hospital?"

"No, I'm gonna hitchhike."

"What?!"

"Sh!" He covers my mouth again and waits for Brian to start singing again before he uncovers my mouth.

"Guthrie, you can't do that! It's dangerous!"

"Kenny said his brother did it before and nothing bad happened to him."

"But Adam says it's dangerous," I remind him.

"No it's not! He's hitchhiked before."

"He has?"

"Yeah. So has Brian and Crane."

I think about that. I didn't know they've hitchhiked before. "But it's such a long way!" I tell him. "You'd have to hitchhike to Angels Camp and then Sonora."

"It can't be that hard to find somebody going that way."

"Guthrie, I don't want to do it. It sounds scary. Besides, Adam told me I can't leave school anymore."

"So, when have you ever done what he says before?"

I stare at Guthrie. I can't believe he just said that. It didn't sound very nice, but I guess it's true.

"Sorry, Heidi. You don't have to go if you don't want to. But I'm gonna go as soon as Brian drops us off."

"But I'll be worried about you if you go by yourself," I tell him.

"Then come with me."

"I can't. I don't want to get in trouble." I remember what Adam said would happen if I left school again, so I'm not leaving.

He sighs. "Ok."

"Ok. Promise me you won't go," I say.

"No. I'm going with you or without you."

"No you can't!"

"Heidi, I want to see Hannah. I need to see if she's ok. I need to know why Adam won't let us come visit her. Aren't you curious why he doesn't want us to come?"

"You don't think there's something really wrong with her, do you?" I ask.

"I don't know. That's why I want to go find out. Are you with me?" He asks.

I don't know what to say. I don't want him to go by himself, but now I'm worried something could really be wrong with Hannah. Why doesn't Adam want us to see her? I don't know what to do. We're pulling into the school parking lot now and Brian parks the jeep.

"Well?" Guthrie says.

I shrug my shoulders.

"If you want to go with me," he whispers, "meet me by the upper bathrooms. Wait until Brian leaves and don't go to class. Just get to the bathrooms and I'll think of the rest from there." He gets out of the jeep and I follow slowly. I don't know what to do.

"Come on," Brian says to me. "Why are you walking so slow?" He stops and waits for me to catch up. "Are you nervous or scared or something? You've been suspended before."

I shrug my shoulders. I'm not even thinking about Mr. Brick now. My stomach hurts a lot, but not because I'm worried I'll get suspended, but because I know Guthrie's gonna hitchhike and that worries me a lot. Brian holds out his hand and I take it. The three of us walk to the office together.

* * *

When we walk inside, Brian takes his cowboy hat off and walks up to the counter. Guthrie and I stand on either side of him.

"Good morning," Ms. Trent says. She gets up from her desk and walks over to us. "Running a little late this morning?" She asks. She's smiling but I don't feel like smiling back.

"Let me write some late slips for you," she says. "What's the reason for being late?" She asks as she starts writing Guthrie's name on the slip. Guthrie and I look up at Brian.

"We had an emergency at the house last night," Brian tells her.

Ms. Trent stops smiling and says, "nothing serious I hope?"

Brian tells her what happened with Hannah and she listens. Then she says how sorry she is for us. I look up at her and think, I wonder if Mr. Brick would've said that. I look over to his office and see the door shut and the lights off. Ms. Trent must have seen me looking because she says, "Mr. Brick won't be in today." She tells Brian, "he left specific instructions that he wants Heidi to stay at school today until he can talk to Adam in person."

"I'm not expelled?" I ask.

She smiles down at me and says, "I don't think so."

"Well, if he's letting you stay at school today I don't think you're suspended either," Brian says to me.

I breathe a sigh of relief. I don't care about not being suspended, but not being expelled makes me happy.

"Of course Adam will have to talk to Mr. Brick about all that as soon as they're both able to. But for now he said you are to stay at school," Ms. Trent says. She hands Guthrie his late slip and starts writing mine.

Guthrie says bye to Brian and then mouthes to me, "I'll wait five minutes."

I nod my head slowly and my stomach starts hurting again. I watch Guthrie leave the office and then I look up at Brian and wonder what I should do.

"Heidi?"

I look at Ms. Trent. "Yes."

She smiles and says, "I said, here's your late slip."

"Oh. Thanks," I say as I take it from her.

"Are you ok?" Brian asks me.

I nod my head slowly and try to smile but I can't.

He takes my hand and walks me out of the office. Once we're out the door he kneels down in front of me. "Are you worried about Hannah?" He asks.

I don't know what to say so I just stare at him. He hugs me and says, "she's going to be fine. Don't worry. Go to class and I'll see you when you get home today."

I feel like crying, but I don't.

Brian stands up and says, "go to class now." He gives me a little nudge and I walk away from him.

I turn around when I think he's gone, and I watch him walk to the parking lot. Now what do I do? I don't want to leave school, but I don't want Guthrie to hitchhike alone. I'm worried about him. I could run to Brian and tell him what Guthrie's going to do. I should do that, but my feet feel frozen to the ground. I could go meet Guthrie, but then what? I could try to talk him out of it. But that will do no good. My stomach hurts worse now. What should I do? Run to Brian? Or run to Guthrie? I only have a minute to decide because Brian will be at the jeep by then, and Guthrie will leave without me. I think I know what to do.


	22. Chapter 22

I run after Brian. "Brian wait!" I yell as loud as I can and hope he hears me. I'm gonna have to run fast because he's already at the jeep. "Brian!" I yell.

I watch him get in the jeep and I keep yelling at him but he doesn't hear me. The jeep starts and I watch it drive out of the parking lot. I'm gonna run after it! "Brian!" I cry, but it's no use. The jeep is too far away. I stop running and watch it drive away.

Then I remember Guthrie. I've got to stop him. I hope I'm not too late. I run to the upper bathrooms. I'm a fourth grader so I'm not supposed to be by the upper bathrooms. Those are for the sixth, seventh and eight graders. Right now I don't care if a teacher sees me, I've got to get to Guthrie before he leaves. Once I'm standing outside the bathrooms, I look around. "Guthrie?" I don't see him. I open the door to the boys bathroom, close my eyes and yell. "Guthrie? Are you in here?"

"He just left," a boy says.

I open my eyes and there's a boy standing at the sink washing his hands.

"Did he just leave right now, or did he leave a while ago?" I ask.

"About a minute ago," the boy says.

I leave the bathroom and look around. Maybe I can catch up to him. No. I don't even know which way he went. What should I do? I've got to think. What can I do? I think for a while. I could try to find Guthrie, or I could...I don't know what else to do. I start to cry.

When the boy comes out of the bathroom he asks, "what's the matter with you? Are you sick or something? Maybe you should go to the office."

Ms. Trent! That's it! She'll know what to do! I run away from the bathrooms and to the office.

* * *

I throw the door to the office open and yell, "Ms. Trent, you have to help me!"

She looks up from her desk and stands up fast and walks over to me. "What's wrong?"

"It's Guthrie! He left school and he's gonna hitchhike to the hospital to visit Hannah!"

"All the way to Sonora?!"

"Yes! You have to help!"

"Ok. Calm down. When did he leave school?"

"A minute ago."

"Ok, let me make a phone call." She races over to her desk and picks up the phone. After she dials she waits for someone to answer. Finally she starts talking.

"Yes, Sheriff Mel, this is Ms. Trent over at the elementary school. We have a missing student, Guthrie McFadden. He's hitchhiking his way to Sonora to visit family at Tuolumne General." She listens for a little bit and then says, "yes. He just left a minute ago." She looks at me and says, "yes. Guthrie. Yes. Ok, thank you." She hangs up the phone.

"You called the Sheriff?!" I cry.

She rushes back over to me and hugs me. "Oh Heidi, it's ok. We're going to find him. Come with me." She leads me over to her desk and scoots a chair from the side wall over to the side of her desk. "Sit," she says as she lightly pushes me down on it. "Now, I'm not done. I've got some more phone calls to make."

I cry quietly and watch her sit down at her desk. Her face looks serious as she grabs a phone book off the shelf next to her desk and opens it up. She flips through it quickly and says, "here we go." She picks up the phone and dials. I look up at her and watch her face. She's not smiling right now, she looks serious. She looks like she knows what she's doing and she's staring straight ahead as she waits for someone to answer the phone. Finally someone does.

"Yes, I'll hold." She waits another minute and then says, "I need to leave an important message for Adam McFadden. His wife, Hannah, is a patient at your hospital. My name is Isabella Trent and I'm the secretary at his children's school. This is an emergency. Please have him call the school at 532-1817. This is regarding his son Guthrie." She listens for a minute and says, "yes, that's right. Thank you." She hangs up the phone and opens her school phone book. She looks something up and picks the phone up again. After she dials she stares straight ahead. After a long time she hangs up the phone and looks at me.

"I'm not getting an answer at your house."

"Brian went to the hospital. Evan, Ford and Daniel are at home, but they're working on the ranch." I can't help but cry. I stand up and she hugs me. "Even if someone answers the phone they can't go get Guthrie because Adam has the truck and Brian has the jeep. I want Adam!"

"It's going to be ok, Heidi. The Sheriff has many people looking for Guthrie and they'll find him. Adam will call soon and I'll keep trying your house. Now, you sit here while I make another phone call." She pushes me down again lightly and picks up the phone. She dials a number from memory. I wonder who she's calling now. I don't have to wait long.

"Hi Melissa, it's Isabella. Can you come in today?" She's quiet for a little bit and then says, "great!" She listens. "Yes, I'll tell you when you get here." Then she hangs up the phone and sighs. I look at her and she looks at me and smiles, but I can't smile back. I'm worried about Guthrie. I hope no one kidnapped him!

"What if they can't find Guthrie?" I ask.

She doesn't get to answer me because the phone rings. She picks it up.

"Murphys Elementary School, this is Ms. Trent." She listens and then looks at me and covers the receiver with her hand to whisper, "it's Adam."

I jump up and try to take the phone from her, but she takes my hand and holds it down. I listen to her tell him about Guthrie leaving school and hitch hiking. Hearing her say that makes me cry. She puts her hand on top of my head and smoothes my hair back. Then she says, "yes. Just Guthrie. She's right here." She holds the phone out to me and I take it.

"Adam?" I cry I to the phone.

"Hi." He doesn't sound mad. "I'm so glad you stayed at school and didn't go with Guthrie." He sounds tired and I hear him sigh. "I'm glad you told Ms. Trent. That was the right thing to do. That was good thinking."

"Adam? What if they can't find Guthrie? What if someone kidnaps him?" I cry and I can't hear him talking because I'm crying so much. Ms. Trent takes the phone from me and hugs me while she talks to Adam. I don't hear anything she says.

When she hangs up the phone she takes a tissue out of the box on her desk and wipes my cheeks. Then she gives me one for my nose. We look over at the door when we hear it open. It's Mrs. Cole, the substitute secretary. She works here sometimes when Ms. Trent is sick.

"I got here as fast as I could," she says as she walks into the office and around the counter. She starts to take her jacket off and says, "go Isabella. Do what you need to do."

I look up at Ms. Trent. She's leaving? That makes me start crying again. She talks to Mrs. Cole for a while and then Mrs. Cole looks down at me and smiles. Ms. Trent picks her purse up off her desk and says to me, "let's go Heidi." She holds her hand out to me.

I look up at her and I'm confused. "I have to go to my classroom now?" I ask.

"No. I'm taking you to the hospital."

"You are?"

"Yes."

I hug her but then I remember something and I start crying again. "I can't go! I'm not supposed to leave school!"

Ms. Trent hugs me and says, "Adam knows I'm bringing you. He said it's ok.'

"He did?" I look up at her.

"Yes. Come on." She takes my hand again and thanks Mrs. Cole before we leave the office.

Mrs. Cole calls out, "I'll call the hospital if I hear anything."

I hold Ms. Trent's hand as we walk out to the parking lot. I know she drives the blue jeep and that's where we're headed. Her jeep isn't brand new, but it's not all banged up like our jeep. Her jeep is closed up today like our jeep is so she walks me around the jeep and opens the passenger side door and I climb up and in. It's really clean inside. Way cleaner than our jeep. It smells a little bit like flowers inside. I think it's her perfume. I smelled it when she hugged me. She gets in on the driver's side and starts the jeep.

I sit back in the front seat and stare out the window. I hope we find Guthrie.

* * *

The drive to Sonora seems like it takes forever. Ms. Trent and I don't talk at all. She didn't even turn the radio on. I think both of us are concentrating too much on looking for Guthrie to talk to each other. I keep looking on both sides of the road hoping to see Guthrie. I try to remember what he was wearing, but all I can think of is jeans and a checkered shirt. Pretty much what every boy wears in this area.

I hope we find him. Now I wish I would've gone with him. If there were two of us, maybe a kidnapper wouldn't want to take two kids because it would be too hard. Oh no! I should've gone with him! I start to cry quietly while I look for Guthrie.

What if he got hit by a car?! What if he's hurt and lying in a ditch somewhere by the side of the road?! Now I start looking for ditches. I hope he's not dead! I wipe my eyes because my eyes are getting blurred from my tears. I don't see him anywhere.

This is the longest ride ever! Usually I fall asleep on the way to Sonora because it's a long drive, but today I'm going to stay awake for the whole ride. I've got to find Guthrie! I sure hope we can find him.

As we drive through Angeles Camp I look along Main Street really closely. Now that we're in town, there's more people walking around and more cars to look in. Ms. Trent drives a little slower in this area so we can look better. I don't see Guthrie. I was hoping he would be here. Lots of times people go to Angeles Camp from Murphys and don't go on to Sonora. Maybe Guthrie went this far and has to find a new ride to Sonora. I keep looking, but we're at the end of Main Street now and I haven't seen him. The Highway continues towards Sonora and I know it's about a forty-five minute drive from here. I sigh and keep looking out the window. Where are you Guthrie?

The rest of the drive is the same. There's no sign of Guthrie. I keep looking but the closer we get to Sonora's Main Street, Washington, the harder it is to look. There's more people on Washington Street than there were in Angeles Camp. But I guess if Guthrie made it this far, he should be at the hospital. I start to get a little excited because I know the hospital is at the end of Washington Street.

I keep looking for Guthrie, but when Ms. Trent pulls into the hospital's parking lot, I can't wait to jump out of the jeep. As soon as she parks I swing my door open and jump down. I start to run to the big doors that have the word emergency on them, but I wait for Ms. Trent. She holds out her hand and I take it while we walk through the small parking lot. As we get closer to the doors I can see Crane walking out of them. I let go of Ms. Trent's hand and run to him.

"Crane!" I yell. He sees me and runs towards me and picks me up when we meet.

"I'm so glad you're ok Heidi."

"Is Guthrie here?" I ask.

Crane doesn't answer me. I put my hands on his chest and push myself back a little so I can look at him. "Is Guthrie here?" I ask again. Crane isn't looking at me. I turn my head and see Ms. Trent.

"Thank you Isabella!" Crane says.

"It's no problem Crane. She needed to be with you. I was happy to help. Is Guthrie here?"

We both look at Crane and he shakes his head no. "I was hoping maybe you guys found him on your way here."

"We didn't," Ms. Trent says. "I'm sorry. Have you heard anything yet from the Sheriff?"

"No. Why don't we go inside and I'll get you a cup of coffee."

She says ok to that and asks how Hannah is doing. Crane carries me towards the hospital doors and I hear him say, "I'll tell you all I know so far once we get our coffee and find a place to sit." He's not talking to me and I don't mind. I look behind us while Crane carries me. Come on Guthrie! Where are you?! Please, God, I hope he's ok. Please let him be ok.


	23. Chapter 23

As soon as we come inside the hospital, I see Brian in the hallway talking on a pay phone. Crane carries me into the lobby and walks over to a small table with a coffee pot on it. He puts me down and pours a cup of coffee for Isabella and then one for himself. Then we find three chairs that are together and sit down.

"Thank you so much for all your help Isabella."

"I was just doing my job," she says.

"No, this was more than just doing your job. Bringing Heidi here was a wonderful thing for you to do, and I know that isn't part of your job description."

"Crane, I'm happy to do it. I'm also happy to stay and wait with you. This must be very hard for you to have Hannah in here and Guthrie somewhere out there."

"It has been a little stressful so thank you."

Brian walks up to us and I get up and go to him. He picks me up and says, "no word from home yet."

"I'm so sorry," Isabella says.

"I'm gonna go back out there and see if I can find him," Brian says. "He should've been here by now. Especially since you guys are here now."

"I'll try calling home in about fifteen minutes," Crane says. "Hopefully the Sheriff picked him up and is either bringing him here, or back to the house."

Brian puts me down and I sit back down on the chair next to Crane. I turn around and sit on my knees so I can look out the window to the parking lot. I see Brian walking to the jeep. I hope he finds Guthrie.

I rest my chin on the top of the chair and stare out the window while I listen to Crane and Isabella talk.

"How's Hannah?" She asks.

"She's doing well. When we brought her in last night she was exhausted. Apparently she was dehydrated and was anemic. They gave her lots of fluid and an iron shot. They also found out she was...,"

I look out of the corner of my eye and see him looking at me. "She was pregnant," I say quietly. "I already know. I heard Brian talking about it this morning when he thought I was asleep."

"I'm sorry Heidi," Crane says.

"How did she lose the baby? I don't understand that," I tell him.

"It's complicated," he says. That means he doesn't want to tell me.

I keep staring out the window and I ask, "where's Adam?"

"He's with Hannah."

"Can I go see Hannah?"

"No, you're too young. You have to be twelve to visit someone here."

"Why?"

"Hospital rules."

"But why?"

"I don't know Heidi, that's just the way it is."

"Well, I don't like it."

"I know. I'm sorry."

I keep staring out the window hoping I see Guthrie. Why isn't he here yet? What happened to him?

"Any word yet?"

That's Adam's voice! I turn around quickly and rush over to him.

He picks me up and says, "hi."

I wrap my arms around his neck and cry a little while he holds me and talks to Crane and Isabella.

"What time did you say he left school?"

"Around nine o'clock. Brian brought Guthrie and Heidi to school because they were late. Guthrie left shortly after Brian left," Isabella says.

"I wonder what he was thinking!" Adam says. He sounds mad.

I lean back a little so I can look at him. "He wanted to see Hannah. He thought there was something really wrong with her and that's why you didn't want us to come see her. I'm sorry Adam. I should've gone with him." I cry and hug him tightly again while I rest my head on his shoulder.

He rubs my back and says, "I'm so glad you didn't. I'm so glad you did the right thing and told an adult."

"But Guthrie could be hurt and no one's there to help him! What if he got kidnapped!" I'm starting to feel really bad now and scared. Bad things keep popping into my head and I can't say them fast enough. "If I went with him no one would try to kidnap two kids! What if he got hit by a car? What if he's...,"

"Heidi stop!" Adam says that really loud and moves me so he can look in my eyes. "Stop it! You're letting your imagination go wild. Now I need you to stop thinking like that. We're going to find him! Do you hear me?"

"Yes." I look in his eyes and a new batch of tears start falling. "I'm sorry."

He holds me close again and says quietly, "I know Heidi. I know." He smoothes my hair back and walks over to the chair I was sitting on and sits down. I keep my arms around his neck and I rest my head on his shoulder in just the right way so I can see out the window and watch for Guthrie. Adam rubs my back.

"How's Hannah?" Isabella asks.

"She's doing as well as can be expected."

"Did they give a reason for the miscarry?" She asks.

"They're running some tests."

Did they do the procedure?" Crane asks.

"Yes. They just finished and Hannah's asleep now."

"What procedure?" I ask while not moving at all.

"Why don't you just listen for now," Adam tells me. "You can ask questions later." Then he says to Isabella, "thank you for bringing Heidi here."

"You're welcome. I'm happy to help in any way you need me to."

"Thank you," Adam says. "Is Brian still out looking?"

"Yeah," Crane says. "He just left a minute ago. We're a little worried because Heidi and Isabella got here before him."

"I know. I am too. I don't know what he was thinking! I've told him hitchhiking is dangerous! All I can hope is he got in a car with someone he knew and not a stranger."

"I hope that to," Crane says. "Let's hope someone from Murphys picked him up that we know. There's not too many strangers in Murphys, but you never know."

Everyone is quiet now. I continue to stare out the window. I watch a Sheriff's car pull up to the entrance of the hospital and stop. Our jeep pulls up right behind it. I watch the Sheriff get out of his car and walk around to the back passenger side door. Then I see Guthrie get out.

"Guthrie!" I yell. I break away from Adam and rush out of the lobby and through the automatic doors.

Brian is out of the jeep now and he's talking to the Sheriff. I run up to Guthrie and hug him. He almost falls over because I rush at him.

"Guthrie! I'm so glad you're safe!" I hug him tightly. I'm so happy! But then something starts to feel bad inside. I start to feel angry. I let go of him and push him away from me. "How could you do that! You could've been killed!" I push him again and Guthrie starts crying. I think he's saying he's sorry, but I can't hear him. I can't hear anything. I push him again so he almost falls over and then I feel someone lifting me up off the ground. I look behind me and Brian is picking me up. He turns me so he can hold me and I hear him say, "hey, hey, hey." He's saying it quietly while he rubs my back and lets me cry on his shoulder. Crane and Adam come running up to Guthrie.

"Guthrie!" Adam says as he hugs him. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"You had us so worried!" Crane says when it's his turn to hug him.

"I'm sorry," Guthrie says.

"Thanks Mel," Adam says as he shakes the Sheriff's hand.

"I found him at the gas station in Angeles Camp. He said he hitched a ride there and was about to hitch a ride here, when I showed up. I told him about the dangers of hitchhiking on the way over here. It seems he had a little bit of a bad experience with his ride to Angeles Camp."

Everyone is looking at Guthrie now. "I got scared," he says. "A stranger picked me up in Murphys. He seemed really nice and said he would take me all the way to Sonora, so I got in his truck."

"What were you thinking?!" Adam yells.

"I'm sorry," Guthrie cries. "When he was driving he kept drinking something from a bottle in a brown paper bag. He started talking about things that didn't make any sense. Then he passed me the bottle so I could take a drink and when I told him I didn't want any he started getting mad. That's when I could smell a beer smell. It didn't smell exactly like beer and it wasn't a beer bottle. I could feel it was a flat bottle in the bag."

"He was drinking and driving?!" Adam yells.

Guthrie nods his head slowly. "When we got close to Angeles Camp he asked me if I had any money for gas, and when I told him I didn't, he got really mad. He started swearing at me."

"Oh my gosh," Crane says, and he hugs Guthrie.

Then Guthrie says, "he stopped at the gas station in Angeles Camp and told me to wait in the truck while he went into the store to buy something. That's when I got out and hid by the side of the store. When he came out, he looked around for a second, and then got in his truck and drove off." Guthrie cries now and says, "I was so scared! I'm so sorry! I'll never do that again!"

Adam hugs him and Crane says, "I'll call home and let them know we found him and he's safe."

The Sheriff shakes Adam's hand again before he gets back in his patrol car. Then Adam starts to yell at Guthrie. Brian is still holding me and he says, "Adam, let me take care of this. You've got to focus on Hannah right now. I'm sure she'll be awake soon."

"Brian, let me deal with this for a minute. Go on inside, we'll be in in a minute."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Take Heidi and go inside," Adam tells him.

Brian carries me towards the hospital doors and I look back and watch Adam and Guthrie.

"Do you know how worried we were?!" Adam yells. Guthrie doesn't answer. He just stands there and cries, but I don't think Adam wants him to answer because he keeps yelling. "You got into a strangers truck?! What were you thinking?!"

When we walk through the hospital doors and they close, I can't hear him anymore. Brian puts me down and Isabella comes walking up to us from the lobby.

"Hannah's awake," she says.

Brian looks outside and then he looks at Isabella. "Can Heidi stay with you for a little while?"

"Of course! Don't worry, I'll watch her. Besides, Crane is right over there on the phone. I'm sure he'll be off soon."

"Thanks," Brian says and he walks through the lobby and over to a big door. He opens it and goes inside. That must be where Hannah is.

"Let's go sit down," Isabella says to me.

We walk back to the chairs we were sitting in earlier. That's perfect because if turn around in my chair and face the window, I can see Adam and Guthrie. Adam looks mad and he's yelling and Guthrie's crying hard. I sigh and turn back around in my chair and look up at Isabella.

"Thanks Ms. Trent."

She smiles at me and says, "Heidi, we're not at school. You can call me Isabella."

"Thanks Isabella." I lean over and hug her and she hugs me back. She smells pretty, just like Hannah does. "Isabella? I wish you could be the principal instead of Mr. Brick."

She laughs a little and says, "oh I'm glad I'm 'not' the principal!"

I move away from her so I can look at her. "Why?"

"Mr. Brick has a very hard job."

I think about that for a minute. "What do you mean? All he does is yell at kids and send them home. What's so hard about that?"

"Is that all you think he does?"

"I guess he makes phone calls too, but that's easy."

"Heidi, Mr. Brick has to make sure everyone at school is safe and he has to make sure all the teachers and workers at school do their jobs right."

"But what's so hard about that? Our school is safe and all the teachers teach, don't they?"

"Well, sometimes 'some' of the students do things that are unsafe."

"Like what?"

"Like fight with other kids, or ditch school, or hmmm, I don't know, maybe 'hide' from him." She smiles at me.

I think for a while and then say, "ohhhh. Like me."

"Yes."

"I make his job hard?"

"Sometimes."

"But he makes school hard for me. Sometimes he makes me so mad! He's mean. He's never nice like you are."

"I know it seems that way sometimes, but I've seen him be nice before."

"Isabella? Why do you think he always sends me home?"

"That would be a good question for Adam to ask Mr. Brick."

"But why do you think he sends me home all the time?"

"I _think_ you should ask Adam that question and not me." She smiles at me and brings her hand up to my forehead and smoothes my hair back.

"I still think 'you' should be the principal."

Crane comes over and sits on the other side of Isabella. "Everything ok at home?" She asks him.

"Yes. Everyone's happy Guthrie is safe." Crane looks out the window and says, "I guess Adam is done being happy with Guthrie." We turn around to look out the window and I can see Adam still yelling, and Guthrie still crying. "Where's Brian?" Crane asks.

"He's with Hannah. She's awake now," Isabella tells him.

"I'll go tell Adam." Crane gets up to go outside. I watch him through the window. When he gets to Adam and talks to him, Adam yells one more thing at Guthrie and then walks towards the hospital entrance. Once he's inside, he walks through the lobby and over to the big door Brian went through earlier. He looks really tired. He opens the door and I watch it slowly close behind him.

* * *

Guthrie comes inside with Crane and he finds an empty chair across from me to sit on. I look at him and his eyes are all red and puffy from crying. He's looking down at the floor and I know he feels bad. I know he feels bad for disappointing Adam and I know what that feels like. I stand up and walk to the empty chair beside him. I sit down and put my arm around him.

"I'm sorry Heidi," he says quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry too."

"I'm sorry I tried to make you come with me. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's ok Guthrie. You're safe now and I'm glad. I was really worried about you. I'm sorry you had to ride with that scary man."

"I'm so glad you weren't with me when I got into that truck! Who knows where we would've ended up if you'd come with me."

"Are you mad at me for telling?" I ask him.

"No. I'm glad you did. I was so scared. When we stopped in Angeles Camp, and I knew I had to get away from that drunk man, I was scared. I didn't know what to do after he left. I was afraid to get into someone else's car. Luckily the Sheriff came by. Thanks Heidi." He hugs me and I hug him back.

When we're done hugging Guthrie says, "Crane, is Hannah ok?"

"Yes. She's going to be fine."

"Can I see her?"

"I'll take you back as soon as Brian comes out."

"What about me?" I ask.

"Sorry Heidi. I told you, you have to be twelve to visit someone."

"But, what if I ...," I don't get a chance to finish because Brian comes out of the door and walks over to us.

Guthrie and Crane stand up and Crane asks Brian if Hannah's still awake.

"Yes. She looks much better."

"Good. Will you take Guthrie back?"

I watch Brian walk with Guthrie to the big door and they go through it like everyone else does. I feel like crying. Crane sits down next to Isabella and they start talking. I watch the big door. Other people go through it. I bet I could pass for a twelve year old. I sigh. I'm short for my age. Everyone is always surprised when I tell them I'm ten. They usually think I'm eight. That's why I hate it so much when people call me little. I don't think I can pass for a twelve year old.

I find an empty chair that's closer to the door so I move over to it. There's only about five other people besides us in the lobby. I watch the door open and someone comes out. I try to look in, but I can't see anything. I'll have to get closer. There's an empty chair next to the door so I move to that one. Now I just have to wait for it to open.

It's taking a long time. No one is coming in or out. I pull my legs up and hug them in front of me so I can rest my chin on my knees. I'm bored. I look over at Crane and Isabella. They're laughing and talking. They look really happy. I knew they'd be perfect for each other! Finally the door opens! A nurse comes out and I put my legs back down and turn so I can look inside the door.

There's a big desk just inside the door with a nurse sitting at it. I can see a long hall behind her. There's a nurse rolling someone on a bed through one of the doorways in the hall. My guess is Hannah's room is one of those doorways. Then the big door closes and I can't see anything again. I sigh and look back over at Crane and Isabella. I wonder what they're talking about. They look serious now. Then they smile at each other and Crane takes his hand and moves a piece of Isabella's hair away from her eyes. Are they going to kiss! Yes! They kiss!

I jump up and start clapping because I forget where I am. They stop kissing and look at me. Now I'm embarrassed! I sit back down and cover my face with my hands and I hear them laugh. I peek through my fingers and they kiss again. I put my hands down and smile at them while they kiss. I don't even realize the door opens until Adam says, "what are you smiling at?"

I look up at him, Brian and Guthrie and point to Crane and Isabella. Guthrie smiles.

"Come away from the door Heidi," Adam says so I follow him over to Crane and Isabella.

"Anything new?" Crane asks.

"No, she's still the same," Adam tells him. "Which is good."

"So what's the plan?" Crane asks.

"I've got to take either the truck, or the jeep home so Daniel, Evan and Ford can come visit. I'm going to take Guthrie and Heidi with me and stay home with them.

I don't like that plan. I want to stay here, but I'm not going to say that yet. I'm just gonna listen to their plan right now.

Crane turns to Isabella and says, "I'd like to take you out for a late lunch or early dinner for all your help today."

"You don't have to do that. Really. I was happy to help."

"Are you saying no to a date with me?" He asks as he smiles at her.

"Well, no. If you put it that way, I would love to go on a date with you." She smiles back at him. "As long as you let me drive. I'll drive you home afterward so I won't have to make the long drive back to Murphys all by myself."

"Sounds good to me," Crane says. "Does Gus's Steak House sound good to you?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a date!" Crane says. "Let me go back and say goodbye to Hannah."

When he leaves Adam says, "thanks again for all your help today Isabella."

"You're welcome. I hope Hannah gets better soon and all her tests turn out good."

"Thank you," Adam says and then he looks down at me and Guthrie. "I bet you guys are hungry."

"I know I am," Brian says. "Why don't I take them to McDonalds before we go home."

Guthrie's excited and normally I would be too, but I want to stay here. When Crane comes back out I ask Adam if I can go to the bathroom before we go. "I know where the it is." I point over to the pay phone because I know the bathrooms are just past the phone.

He says a quick yes while he walks towards the hospital entrance with everyone to say goodbye to Crane and Isabella. Good. I walk towards the bathroom and when I get to the pay phone I turn around to look at them. None of them are watching me. I walk as fast as I can back through the lobby and over to the big door that goes back to where Hannah is. I open it a crack and see if the nurse is sitting at the desk. I don't see her, so I open the door more and slip inside, shutting the big door behind me.


	24. Chapter 24

I look around for a second and see nurses and doctors walking around. They ignore me. It's bigger back here than I thought. There's another hallway on the other side of the door that I didn't see before. I wonder which way Hannah's room is. I think I'll go down the first hallway.

I try to make myself as tall as I can as I walk by the rooms. I'm not going to look at anyone who's walking in the hallway. I'm just going to pretend like I know where I'm going. I sneak little peeks into each room as I walk by them. I don't see Hannah in any of them. I hope I'm walking down the right hallway. I pass by a nurse holding a clipboard and she starts talking to me.

"Who are you visiting?" She asks.

I keep walking and say, "my mom."

"Wait," she says and I start walking faster. "Excuse me," I hear her say as I start to run. I turn the corner at the end of the hallway and see a dark room with it's door open. I run inside and stand by the doorway. I hear footsteps coming and I hold my breath.

"Sally, have you seen a little girl come this way?"

"No, I haven't."

"That's strange. I thought she came this way. Oh well, I was coming to find you. I have the discharge papers on the patient in room six."

I hear footsteps walking away so I sigh as I let out the air I've been holding. That was close. I peek out into the hallway and don't see anyone. This place is bigger than I thought. I hope I find Hannah soon, or I'm gonna get lost in here. I come out of the room and walk down the hallway, and peek into all of the rooms. She's not in any of them! She must be in one of the other hallways. I have a few more rooms to check in this hallway and then I'll try another.

I walk by the next room and peek in. It's Hannah! I run in and look at her. Her eyes are closed so she must be asleep. I walk up to her quietly. She has a needle in her arm with a tube attached to it. I wonder what that's for. I look at her face and she looks just like she always does. She doesn't look sick at all. I look at her stomach and wonder if it hurts her. I hope it doesn't. I reach out and touch her hand. She feels warm. I must've woken her up because she says, "hi."

I take my hand away and look in her eyes. "Are you ok?" I ask.

She smiles and says, "yes. You can put your hand back."

I put my hand back on hers and she holds it.

"I knew you'd find your way back here," she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I told your brothers, 'Heidi's not going to leave here without seeing me.' I was right, because here you are. Does Adam know you're here?"

I shake my head no and my eyes start to water.

"It's ok," she says. She pushes a button on a remote control and her bed starts to move so she's sitting up.

"Wow!"

"Pretty neat, huh?" She says. She puts her hand down on the bed and pats it. "Hop up."

"Can I?"

"Yes. I'm fine Heidi. Come sit with me." She pats the bed again.

I get up on her bed and sit next to her. "Why is there a needle sticking in your arm?"

"That's an IV. The tube is connected to that bag hanging right up here." She looks up and points to a bag hanging on a hook.

"What's it for?"

She explains it to me but I don't really understand what she's talking about. I'm just glad she's better. She's acting just like she normally does. I look at her stomach.

"Hannah, are you sad about the baby?"

"Yes."

"What happened to it?"

"I lost it. That means it wasn't strong enough to stay inside me."

"Where'd it go? Was it big? Was it a boy or a girl?"

Hannah laughs and says, "that's too many questions. How about we save them for when I'm home?"

"Ok." I know that means she doesn't want to tell me now. "Are you going to have another baby?" I ask.

"I want to." She reaches over and pulls me close to her and I snuggle next to her. She puts her arm around me. This feels nice.

"I love you Hannah," I tell her as I take her hand and kiss it.

"I love you too, Heidi." She kisses the top of my head and then rests her head on mine.

I hold her hand and we lay like that until I hear Adam clear his throat. I sit up really fast and look at him standing in the doorway. He looks out in the hallway and holds his hand up in the air and says loudly, "found her!" Then he looks back at me. "I thought I'd find you in here," he says as he walks over to us.

I look up at him and say, "sorry. I just wanted to make sure Hannah was ok."

He sighs and says, "I know." He looks really tired. He leans over me to kiss Hannah and says, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm good, but Adam, you look exhausted."

He sits on the end of her bed near her feet and says, "it's been a long day. A long night too."

"Why don't you go home Adam," Hannah says.

"What?!" I yell. "He's not gonna leave you here all by yourself!"

"Sh," Hannah tells me. "I'm fine. I'll be fine."

"I agree with Heidi, Hannah." Adam says. "I'm staying with you."

"Adam, you're being silly. You're exhausted. Go home and get some rest. Come back later tonight with the boys."

"Can I come back tonight?" I ask.

"No!" Adam says. "Hannah, I'm not going to leave you. Heidi, you're going home with Brian, and you're staying there. End of discussion. Let's go." He holds his hand out to me so I say goodbye to Hannah and give her a kiss on her cheek. Then I get off her bed and take Adam's hand.

"I can go out to the lobby by myself Adam," I tell him as we walk out into the hallway.

"Yeah right. You're not even supposed to 'be' back here. I'm not losing anymore kids today so come on."

I'm glad he's walking back with me, because I have no clue how to get back to the lobby.

* * *

I walk with him back out to the lobby where we meet Brian and Guthrie.

"Adam you look exhausted," Brian says.

"I know, I know! Everyone keeps telling me that!"

"Hey, sit down for a minute," Brian says. "You two, go sit over there." Brian points to the back wall of the lobby. It's far away from them so Guthrie and I go over there and sit down in some chairs. I look at Adam.

"Guthrie, is Adam going to be ok?"

"I don't know. He looks really sad and tired."

He does. Adam and Brian are sitting near the front of the lobby. Adam is bent over with his elbow on his knee with his head bent down resting in his hand. Brian has his hand on Adam's back and he's leaning over talking to him. Adam shakes his head and rubs his forehead with his hand. He looks sad. I think he might be crying. That makes me cry. Guthrie puts his arm around me and I cover my face with my hands and cry into them. If Adam or Brian looks over here I don't want them to see me cry. I hear Guthrie crying quietly too.

"Heidi, it's going to be ok."

I uncover my face to look at him. "How do you know that? Look at Adam! He's so sad!" I cover my face again.

"I know," Guthrie says.

"Hannah's sad too," I tell him.

"I know."

I can't cry quietly anymore and Guthrie hugs me. "Guthrie, I don't want Adam and Brian to see me crying."

"Me either," he says. I can hear him crying louder too as I hug him back.

"I wish I could go talk to Hannah, but I don't want her to cry too," I tell him. "I don't want to go home Guthrie. I'm worried about Adam. What if he's sick too and he falls down like Hannah did?"

"I don't want to go home either," Guthrie says. "Maybe Brian will let us stay here."

"Yeah. That way we could take care of Adam while he takes care of Hannah." I wipe the tears off my cheeks and I feel a little better. I look over at Adam and Brian. Adam has both elbows on his knees now and his head is hanging down low resting in his hands. It looks like he's covering his face with his hands. I wonder if he's still crying. Brian is still talking to him.

Guthrie takes my hand and says, "let's go tell Brian we're staying."

We stand up and hold hands as we walk over to them. Brian doesn't see us at first so we stand next to him and listen.

"Adam, she's fine. She's going to be fine. I know this place brings back bad memories and this has been a hell of a day, but the doctor said she'll be fine. She'll be able to get pregnant again, you just have to wait for the test results...," Brian sees us and sits up straight. "Can you guys go back over there? I know you're hungry, but I need to talk to Adam for a little bit longer."

Adam sits up too and sighs as he rubs his forehead with his hand.

"We're not over here because we're hungry," Guthrie says. "We're over here because we want to tell you we're staying here."

"Yeah. We're not going home with you Brian. We're staying here to take care of Adam," I tell him.

Adam groans and Brian stares at us and doesn't say anything.

"Did you hear us?" Guthrie asks.

"We said we're not going home," I tell Brian.

Brian stares at us still, only it looks more like a glare now, and says really slowly, "I heard you."

"Good," I say. "We'll go back to where we sitting now. Just tell us when you're leaving so we can come back over." Guthrie and I walk back to where we sitting before and I look back at Adam and Brian. They're both talking to each other and laughing. Brian pats Adam on the back a few times.

"See," Guthrie says, "Adam's feeling better now. I'm glad we decided to stay."

"Me too. He looks happy now." He does look happy. He's smiling a little bit. They both stand up and walk over to us.

Adam says, "thanks for offering to take care of me, but I'm fine. It's time for you to go home with Brian now."

"But what if you faint like Hannah did?" Guthrie asks.

"I'm at a hospital. There are lots of nurses and doctors here to take care of me if that happens. Besides, I'm not sick like Hannah is. I'm just tired. It's been a long day and I'm going to go back and see Hannah now."

Guthrie and I stand up and give Adam a great big hug. I don't want to let go, but I know Hannah's waiting for him to come back, so I say goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says. Brian pats him on the back and Adam goes back to where Hannah is.

"Let's go get some lunch," Brian says. "Do you guys want McDonalds?"

"Yes," we both say.

"Can we get milkshakes?" I ask as we walk out of the hospital.

"We might be able to do that."

The three of us walk out to the jeep.

* * *

We got our food to go and ate it on the drive home. Brian let us get milkshakes so I got a chocolate one and it tasted _so_ good. The drive home was long and I fell asleep way before we got to Angeles Camp. The drive from Sonora always makes me tired. Guthrie wakes me up when we pull onto our driveway.

As soon as we pull up to the house, Evan, Ford and Daniel come running up to the jeep. I think they're mad at Guthrie, because when he gets out they start yelling at him.

"How could you hitchhike Guthrie?!" Daniel asks.

"Yeah, don't you know how dangerous that is?" Ford asks.

"Why'd you get in that man's truck?" Evan asks.

"Back off guys," Brian says. "It's been a long day for everyone. Leave him alone right now."

"How's Hannah?" Daniel asks.

"She's good," Brian says. "When you guys go see her tonight make sure Adam's ok. He was pretty tired when we left."

"Yeah, he was crying," I tell them.

Everyone looks at me and Brian says, "he had a pretty rough night and then a very stressful morning." Brian looks at Guthrie when he says that.

"Sorry," Guthrie says and he puts his head down.

We all walk towards the house and Evan asks, "where's Crane?"

"He's on a date with Isabella!" I tell them. "And guess what?! I saw them kissing at the hospital!"

They laugh and Ford says, "I bet you did you little sneak."

"Hey, I didn't have to sneak!" I laugh and say, "they kissed right in front of everybody in the lobby!" I run to Ford and try to flick his hat off his head. I jump up and grab it and run to the porch with Ford chasing me. We're both laughing and he catches up to me fast and wrestles me to the ground. He grabs his hat and pins me down and I laugh and try to get away, but I can't. Once I'm too tired to try and get away and all I can do is laugh, Ford lets me up. We follow the rest of my brothers inside.

* * *

At bedtime I ask Brian if I can sleep in Adam and Hannah's bed again and he says yes.

"Will you sleep with me?" I ask him.

"I can. Let me go get something to read."

"Ok, I'll get something to read too." I run into my room and grab a few books and run back to Adam and Hannah's room. I turn on the lamp by the side of the bed and pull back the covers on their bed and get in and cover myself up. I sit up and prop a pillow up on the headboard and lean against it. I open one of my books and start to read while I wait for Brian to come back upstairs.

He walks in holding the newspaper and walks over to Hannah's side of the bed and turns her lamp on.

"How come you're still wearing your clothes and not pajamas?" I ask him. "You're gonna leave when I fall asleep, aren't you?"

He lays down on top of the bed and looks at me and says, "no."

"Yes you are."

He opens his newspaper and starts reading. "No I'm not."

We read quietly only I'm not really reading I'm peeking at Brian.

"I'm not leaving," he says without looking at me.

"I know," I tell him, "because I'm not going to sleep. I'm gonna stay awake until _you_ go to sleep."

"We'll see," he says without taking his eyes off the newspaper.

I roll over so I'm facing him. "What are you reading about?"

"Go to sleep," he says without looking at me.

"Do you think Adam and Hannah are asleep now?" When he doesn't answer me, I ask, "did you hear me?" I tap his newspaper. "Brian?"

"Yes I heard you. I'm ignoring you."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to go to sleep," he says. He still hasn't looked at me.

"Why?" When he doesn't answer me I scoot closer to him and start reading the newspaper. "Motherlode Roundup Parade. Saturday, May...,"

He closes it and says, "go back over there on your side and read your book."

"You read it to me," I say as I grab it and hand it to him.

He takes it and opens it up. I scoot close to him so I can see the pictures while he reads.

"This book has a lot of words on each page," he says as he thumbs through the book.

"Yep."

"Don't you have a book with less words?"

"You mean like a princess book?" I tease.

"Never mind," he says and he starts to read.

"Brian, when are Daniel, Evan and Ford gonna be home?"

"Soon." He starts reading again.

"When's Crane gonna be home?"

"I don't know." He closes the book. "Look, do you want me to read the story, or not?"

"Let's talk instead."

"You're supposed to be going to sleep. Do you do this when Adam tucks you in?"

"Do I do what?"

"What you're doing!"

I smile at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He glares at me and says, "yeah right. Get back over on your side and read your own book yourself."

"Aw, that's not fair. You're no fun!" I pretend I'm mad, but I'm not. I'm having fun with Brian. "Come on Brian, 'please' can we just talk about stuff?"

The front door opens downstairs and I get out of bed quickly and run out into the hallway. I look downstairs to see who it is.

"Hey, get back in here!" Brian yells, as he follows me.

Daniel, Evan and Ford are home from the hospital. Guthrie comes out of his room too. "How's Hannah and Adam?" He asks.

"Tired," Daniel says.

"When we left Hannah was asleep and Adam was pretty much out of it," Evan says.

"Any news on the test results," Brian asks.

"No. They should know tomorrow."

Brian looks at me and Guthrie and says, "back to bed. You've got school tomorrow."

"I don't want to go to school tomorrow," I tell him.

"You don't have a choice," Brian says. "Now get back to bed."

"You're supposed to be sleeping with me," I remind him.

"I'll be up in a little bit," he says and he walks downstairs.

"I'll be waiting," I tell him.

"I know. Get to bed!"

I smile at Guthrie and he smiles back. We both go back to bed, but I'm not tired at all since I took a nap in the car earlier today. I lay back down in Adam and Hannah's bed and look up at the ceiling. I hope whatever tests Hannah took she passes. I wonder what kind of tests they give you in a hospital?

I can hear my brothers walking upstairs now. "Goodnight!" I yell when they walk by the bedroom. They all say goodnight and Brian comes in and stands by the doorway. He folds his arms across his chest and glares at me. "Get under the covers."

I do that and then I smile at him as I watch him walk back over to Hannah's side of the bed and lay back down.

"How come you're not ready for bed yet?" I ask him. "You can't sleep in your clothes."

"Don't worry about me," he says. He lays on his side and props his elbow up and rests his head on his hand. Then he stares at me. "Worry about yourself. Close your eyes and go to sleep."

"I can't. I'm not tired yet."

"Close your eyes anyway."

I close them and ask, "when are you going to put your pajamas on?"

"Close your mouth too."

"Then I can't breathe."

"Breathe through your nose."

I open my eyes. "When's Crane coming home?"

"Would you just close your eyes and close your mouth and go to sleep?!"

"Will you tell me a story and sing to me?"

"Sure. What kind of story do you want?"

"Scary!"

"How about funny?" He says and I can tell it's not a choice.

I scoot close to him and he pulls me closer with his other arm. He starts telling me a story and I sigh and listen. Brian always tells funny story about him growing up and this one has me giggling right away. When the story is over he starts singing to me. I take his hand and open it and put my hand on top of his palm. His hand is way bigger than mine. Then I hear the front door open downstairs.

"Crane!" I start to get up but Brian wraps his arm around my waist.

"You're staying right here!"

"No fair!" I laugh and try to get away from Brian by twisting my body around and when that doesn't work I try to pull his arm away from my waist. He holds me tighter and I laugh even more.

"What's going on in here?" Crane asks from the doorway.

I lay still now and ask, "how was your date?"

Crane smiles and comes in and sits down on the bed. "It was nice."

"Nice? That's it? Nice?" I ask.

"It was great," he says.

"Do you like her even more now?" I ask. "Did you kiss her again?"

Crane laughs and says, "none of your business." He puts his hand on the top of my head and messes up my hair.

Brian moves his arm away from my waist and I sit up. "Tell me all about your date."

"I took her to..., I mean, _she_ took us to Gus's Steak House and we had dinner."

I interrupt him. "What'd you have?"

"They start everyone off with cheese fondue, then...,"

"What's that?" I ask.

He explains to me what it is and then tells me everything else they ate.

"How long did you stay there for?"

"I don't know. Over an hour I guess."

"Then where'd you go?"

"What do you mean? We came home."

"No you didn't," I tell him and I give him a big smile.

He smiles back and says, "what?"

"Well, Daniel, Evan and Ford went all the way to Sonora, visited Hannah, and drove all the way home and all you had to do was eat dinner and come home. So what else did you do?" I look up at him and smile. "Well?"

He laughs and reaches over and pulls me to him so he can tickle me. "Your a little busybody!"

I laugh and Brian says, "you got that right!"

"No I'm not!" I can't stop laughing and I try to get away from Crane but I can't. "Uncle!" I yell.

Crane stops tickling me and he hugs me instead.

"I'm glad you had fun," I tell him. "I'm glad you like Isabella too."

"I do like her," he says.

"A lot?" I ask.

"Yes. In fact, I like her so much I asked her to come over for dinner later this week and she said yes!"

Brian sighs and says, "thank god! I thought you were gonna say, "I like her so much I asked her to marry me."

"Did you?!" I ask excitedly.

"No, you crazy kid!" Crane says. "We don't know each other that well yet."

"So, Hannah married Adam and she didn't know he lived with his brothers and sister. That's a pretty big thing not to know about someone," I say.

"Yeah it is," Brian says.

"Well there's not going to be any wedding bells yet," Crane says. "We're still getting to know each other." Crane lifts my chin up so he can see my face. "Ok?"

"Ok." I smile at him and he hugs me and stands up.

"I'm going to bed now. It's been a long day and I have to say, the end of the day was much better than the first part of the day. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I tell him and then I lay down and turn on my side to face Brian.

"Are you ready to go to sleep now?" He asks.

"No. I'm not tired yet."

"Let's see if I can change that. Close your eyes," he says.

"Ok, but whatever you're gonna do, isn't gonna make me tired."

"We'll see." Brian puts his hand on the top of my head and I close my eyes. He starts smoothing my hair back over and over while I keep my eyes closed. Then he starts singing softly. I start to yawn and open my eyes but he whispers, "close them." So I do. His hand feels good on my head. It feels relaxing and I like the song he's singing. Pretty soon I feel really tired and I go to sleep.

* * *

The next day Brian lets everyone stay home from school. We have lots of chores and work that needs to be done around the ranch since we haven't been home much. Brian is also letting us stay home because Hannah's coming home sometime after lunch.

Guthrie and I finish our chores in the barn and go sit on the fence to take a break.

"Hey, we should have a welcome home party for Hannah!" I say.

"I don't think so. She'll probably be too tired for a party." Guthrie says.

"Let's ask Daniel," I say as I jump off the fence and over to the tractor where Daniel, Evan and Ford are working. Guthrie follows me.

"Hey, whatcha guys doing?" They've got the hood up on the tractor and they're staring at the engine."

"Working," Evan says.

"Do you guys want to have a welcome home party for Hannah?" I ask.

They're quiet and Evan unscrews a cap.

"Did you hear me?" I ask.

"I think they heard you Heidi," Guthrie says.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you answering me?"

The three of them turn around and look at me. "I think you've planned enough parties for a while," Daniel says.

"Oh," I say and I put my head down. I forgot about the surprise party.

"Yeah, we know you planned the surprise party," Evan says.

"I'm sorry," I tell them. "I didn't know all those people were gonna come. I hope everyone still likes you when you go back to school."

"It's not a matter of them liking us Heidi," Ford says. "It's just embarrassing to have your party broken up before it even gets started."

"Yeah," Evan says. "Our friends still like us, it's just embarrassing. We didn't want a party Heidi."

"We didn't want Allison, Becky or Cleo to come over either," Daniel says.

"I thought it would make you happy," I tell them.

"It didn't work," Evan says.

"If just the girls came over, would that have made you happy?" I ask.

"Not me," Ford says. "If Adam found out we would've been grounded longer."

"Oh. What if he didn't find out?" I ask.

"He always finds out," Daniel says.

"The girls didn't like you tricking them either," Evan says.

"I know. I feel bad."

"You can't make up these plans of yours," Daniel says. "You hurt people when you do that. I know you don't mean to, but you do."

"I'm sorry." I feel bad.

"We need to finish fixing the tractor," Daniel says. The three of them turn around and look at the engine again.

"Come on Heidi," Guthrie says. He takes my arm and pulls me back over to the fence we were sitting on.

"They're mad at me, aren't they?" I ask as I climb up the fence.

"I don't think they're mad. I think they're just disappointed," Guthrie says.

"Same thing."

"No it's not."

"Guthrie, I don't want to talk about it right now." I don't like it when my brothers are mad at me and if they're disappointed it feels just as bad as when they're mad. I wish Adam was here right now.

"Hey Guthrie!" Brian yells from the barn. "Come help me!"

Guthrie jumps down and I watch him run over to Brian. I start peeling paint off the fence. I get startled when Crane says, "penny for your thoughts?"

"How about a dollar?" I ask as I peel away at the paint.

"A dollar?! Whoa!" He climbs up the fence and sits next to me. "What's wrong Heidi?"

"I don't like it when you guys are mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you. What are you talking about?"

"Daniel, Evan and Ford are. Guthrie says they're disappointed, but to me that's the same as being mad."

"Oh. What are they disappointed about?"

"They're 'mad' about the party," I say as I peel a long piece of paint off and throw it on the ground.

"Oh, right. They'll get over it. You just have to give them time."

"I don't want to wait. I want them to be happy with me now! I wish Adam was here!"

"He'll be home soon, but you can talk to me right now."

"Make them like me again!" I say.

Crane laughs and puts his arm around me. "It doesn't work that way."

"Why not?! It should work that way!" I jump down from the fence.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I don't know!"

Crane jumps down and walks after me. "Come help me make lunch," he says.

"No thanks."

"I wasn't asking," he says as he grabs me around the waist with his arm and holds me up.

"Hey!" I pretend to be mad, but pretty soon I'm laughing and Crane puts me down.

"What do you want for lunch?" He asks.

"Can we have hot dogs?" I ask.

"I guess so. Let's go see if we have some. I'll race you!" Crane starts running towards the house and I run after him laughing as I try to catch up.

* * *

After lunch Guthrie and I go sit out on the front porch steps to wait for Adam and Hannah. The rest of my brothers are inside cleaning the house.

We don't have to wait long before we see the truck driving on the driveway towards the house. We stand up and Guthrie runs inside yelling, "they're here! They're home!" He runs back outside and waits on the steps with me until the truck stops. Then we run out to it. We're not sure if we should hug Hannah so we stand a little bit away from the truck.

"What are you standing way back there for?" Hannah asks. "Come give me a hug!"

I smile at her and Guthrie and I walk up and hug her. The rest of my brothers are out here now and she hugs all of them too.

"Let's go inside," she says. "I can't wait to go inside!"

We all walk to the house. Hannah looks good. She looks like she normally does. I look over at Adam. He doesn't look so good. He looks really tired.

Hannah goes inside and sits down on the couch. Guthrie and I sit on either side of her and she puts her arms around us and hugs us to her. "I've missed you guys!"

"Were the results of the tests good?" Crane asks after everyone is sitting down.

Hannah's quiet and she looks down at her hands so we all look at Adam. When he doesn't say anything Hannah says, "most of the results were good."

"That means some were bad," I say as I look up at her.

She smiles down at me and says, "yes, but most of the results are good." She looks like she might cry.

"Are you hungry?" Daniel ask.

"Do you want me to get you something to drink?" Ford asks.

"Sure. I'll have some tea and maybe a piece of toast."

Daniel and Ford go into the kitchen and Crane says, "you look tired Adam. Why don't you go get some rest."

"No, I've got a lot of work to do."

"We've done it," Brian says. "Go upstairs and get some sleep."

Hannah says, "you really should get some rest Adam. I've got lots of people to take care of me now."

Adam gets up to go upstairs.

"You ok?" Brian asks.

"Yeah." Adam walks upstairs and closes his bedroom door behind him.

I look at Brian and watch him look at Crane. They look worried and they go upstairs to Adam's room. They knock and then open the door and go inside. I hope Adam is ok. I look up at Hannah.

"Hannah? Is Adam ok?"

"He's just tired."

Then Guthrie asks, "is he sad about the test results?"

Hannah looks like she's going to cry.

"What's wrong?" I ask her.

She hugs me closer to her and kisses my forehead. "Nothing," she says quietly.

I start to cry. "I don't believe you."

"I don't either," Guthrie says. I think he's crying too.

When Daniel, Evan and Ford come in with Hannah's tea and toast Evan asks what's wrong.

"She says it's nothing," I tell them. "But I don't believe her."

"Are you ok Hannah?" Ford asks.

"Yes." She wipes her eyes and takes her tea from Ford.

"Then why are you crying?" I ask.

"I'm just glad to be home," she says.

That doesn't sound true, but I'm not going to ask her any more questions. I look upstairs because Brian and Crane come out of the bedroom upstairs and come down here. Hannah puts her tea down on the coffee table and gets up. "I'm going to go lay down," she says.

When she walks by Brian and Crane, Crane gives her a hug. Guthrie and I look at each other because it seems like Brian and Crane know something we don't. When Hannah is in her bedroom, Evan asks, "what's wrong?"

Brian and Crane look at me and Guthrie. Then Crane says, "let's go talk outside."

Guthrie and I stand up and Brian says, "not you two. You stay in here."

"Why?" I ask. "I want to know what's wrong too!"

"No," Crane says. "Not right now."

"Why not?" Guthrie asks. "We're a part of this family too! Why do you guys always get to know stuff and we don't?!"

"Yeah!" I yell.

"Sh!" Crane says. "Hannah and Adam are sleeping. Stay in here."

Guthrie and I sit back down on the couch and fold our arms across our chests. We watch them all go outside and then Guthrie says, "this isn't fair."

"I know. Let's go listen."

We get up and walk to the front door. We try to listen through the door, but we can't hear anything. Guthrie opens the door a tiny bit and looks out. "Darn!" He says.

"What?" I push him out of the way and look outside. They're over by the jeep so we can't listen. I close the door and say, "maybe Adam and Hannah are talking about it and we can listen from their door."

We walk up the stairs quietly and stand outside their bedroom door. I hear voices so we put our ears to the door.

"I'm sorry Adam," Hannah says.

"You don't have to say that Hannah. It's not your fault."

"I know, but I'm still sorry. I know how important having a baby is to you. It's important to me too."

"I know Hannah. I feel sad for the baby we lost. Especially since we didn't even know you were pregnant. I think a lot about the kids we'll have."

"Me too," Hannah says. "But I'll get pregnant again."

"You heard the doctor Hannah."

"I know. He didn't say I couldn't get pregnant Adam. He said it would be harder for me to get pregnant."

"I know. I just wish it didn't have to be this way. I'm glad you're not sick, honey. I was so worried about you. And to know you had a little baby inside you the whole time we were fighting, I ..., I'm just so sorry for all the things I said."

"I know, Adam, I thought about that too. There was a little one inside of me and I'm yelling horrible things at you. I feel so bad for the things I said to you."

Adam says something I can't hear and then Hannah says, "I feel so empty right now."

They're quiet now and Guthrie and I look at each other. "She can't get pregnant?" I whisper to him. He shrugs his shoulders.

We start listening again because we hear Hannah say, "I'm glad I'm home. Let's get some rest." Then they start talking quieter and we can't hear them anymore.

"Let's go," Guthrie whispers. We leave their doorway quietly and walk down to the hall to the boys bedroom. We each climb to the top of a bunk bed to talk.

* * *

"Guthrie! Heidi! Get down here and help with dinner," Brian yells.

I look at the clock in the boys bedroom. 4:30. Guthrie and I have been in here talking for a long time! We go downstairs and run into the kitchen to help.

The first thing Brian says to us is, "go wash your hands." We do that and he tells me to stir the pot of chili on the stove. I notice there's a pot of soup cooking on the stove too.

"Why are we having chili _and_ soup?" I ask.

"The soup is for Hannah," Brian says.

"Is it because her stomach hurts?" I ask.

"No. It'll just be easier for her to eat. It's less spicy."

Sounds like that's to make sure her stomach doesn't get hurt. Guthrie asks, "can Hannah get pregnant?"

I put down the wooden spoon I'm stirring the chili with and look up at Brian.

"What are you talking about?" He asks.

"Is there something wrong with her?" I ask.

"No. Why would you think that?"

"What were you guys talking about outside?" Guthrie asks.

"None of your business," Brian says and the tone of his voice says we're done talking about it. Only I'm not done talking about it. I've just started.

"Brian, why did the doctor say it's going to be harder for Hannah to get pregnant?" I ask.

When he doesn't answer Guthrie says, "we heard Adam and Hannah talking about it earlier today."

"The doctor didn't say that," Brian says.

"Yes he did! We heard Adam say that."

"Were you eavesdropping?" He asks. He sounds mad so we don't answer. "Go back to stirring the pot Heidi. Guthrie, chop those tomatoes."

The three of us work quietly after that until Hannah walks in.

"Something smells good in here," she says. She pours herself some hot water from the tea kettle and gets a bag of tea. She sits down at the table.

"It's chili," I tell her. "And soup!"

"Chili and soup? That doesn't sound good," she says.

"The soup is for you," Guthrie says. "Brian made it for you."

"Thank you Brian," Hannah says. "Soup sounds really good right now."

"I can pour you a bowl of it," I tell her.

"No, that's ok. I'll wait until everyone's dinner is ready."

I help Brian make the cornbread and I listen to Hannah, Brian and Guthrie talk. Hannah sounds like her usual self now. She doesn't sound sad, and she doesn't look sad either. Maybe it's because they're not talking about babies. Adam walks into the kitchen and sits down at the able next to her. He doesn't look sad anymore either. Maybe he just needed a nap.

* * *

After dinner Adam tells me to stay in the kitchen so we can talk. When the dishes are done and everyone else has left the kitchen, I sit back down at my place at the table and Adam sits down across from me. We stare at each other.

"We need to talk about Mr. Brick and going back to school. I'm taking you to school tomorrow and we're meeting with Mr. Brick in the morning. Do you know what you're going to say to him?"

"I'm sorry?"

"That sounds like a question," he says.

"I'm going to tell him I'm sorry."

"For?"

"For all the bad things I did."

"Like?"

I sigh. "Why do I have to say them when we all know what happened?"

"When you apologize you need to say what you're apologizing for. If I say, "Heidi, I'm sorry," and that's it, you don't know what I'm saying sorry for."

I shrug my shoulders. "That's why I'll say I'm sorry for all the bad things I did."

"You need to be more specific when you apologize."

I think about that for a minute, but then my mind starts thinking about something else. "Adam? Did the doctor say it's gonna be hard for Hannah to get pregnant?"

He looks at me and his eyes are sad. I wish I hadn't asked that now. I feel like crying.

"Heidi, we're not talking about that now. We need to talk about what we're going to say to Mr. Brick in the morning." Adam starts talking about that but my mind keeps wandering away and I'm not listening. I wonder why it would be hard for Hannah to get pregnant when she already was pregnant. What if she never gets pregnant again?"

"Heidi?"

I look Adam. He must've asked me a question.

"I can tell you're not listening. What are you thinking about?"

"You, Hannah and the baby." I start to cry. "We listened outside your bedroom door and heard you talk about what the doctor said. I'm sorry!"

He looks sad and says, "come here."

I get up quickly and go to him and he hugs me. "The doctor said it will be hard for Hannah to get pregnant."

"Why?"

"He ran some tests and found out that..,"

He keeps talking, but my mind wanders away again. I hear something like the word ovary and I don't know what he's talking about.

"Adam, are you sad?"

"Yes."

"Me too. I'm sad you lost your baby. I'm sad it's going to be hard for Hannah to get pregnant." I hug him tightly.

"Me too," he says quietly. Then he says, "what'd you say we go into the living room now and see what everyone else is doing. It sounds like Crane and Daniel have their guitars out, and I think I hear Brian's harmonica."

Adam lifts me up when he stands up and carries me into the living room. When he turns the light off in the kitchen the living room looks a little dark. The two lamps on the end tables are the only lights on. Everyone is in the living room. Adam sits down on the couch next to Hannah and holds me on his lap. I watch him reach over and touch Hannah's hand. She looks at him and smiles while she takes his hand and holds it. They look happy. I look around the room. Everyone looks happy. I look at Crane. I'm so glad he got to meet Isabella and go out on a date with her. I can't wait for her to come over for dinner on Friday night. I snuggle closer to Adam. I'm so happy I have a family that loves each other and cares about each other. When I look at Guthrie he smiles at me and I smile back. I wonder what adventure we'll go on next.

The End.

* * *

**Thank you for reading my story, and thank you to all the positive reviewers. Your reviews mean a lot to me.**

**As for my one negative GUEST reviewer who continued to leave** **more than one bad review after multiple chapters, move on. Clearly you do not like my OC, or the way I portray the McFadden family. Even if you counter a negative paragraph with a positive one in your long reviews, I don't feel there is a place for negativity on Fanfiction. No one is forcing you to read a story. If this were a site you paid for, I could understand a negative review. But stories on this site are written by people who enjoy writing about fictional TV shows, movies, books, etc. and hope someone else enjoys them too. Every writer on this site has their own take on the characters and show they are writing about and if you don't like their take, stop reading and move on to another story. (I think that's the polite thing to do.)**

**There are excellent Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stories on this site that I have read and they are written by writers that are way better writers than me, and you would love those stories. (I know I do.) I think they are more of the kind of McFadden** **story you are looking for. As for my stories, I love writing them. My OC is a complicated character that has many sides to her and I have enjoyed developing her with each new story I write. So, you are correct that you have a right to write your review, but that doesn't mean I have to post it. I won't post negative GUEST reviews and I have a very good reason for not posting them. I'd be more than happy to tell you about it, just sign in as a user and PM me.**

**So...**

**I am very grateful for the positive reviews I have gotten. Keep them coming! Even if it's just a one liner or a smiley face! :) Your reviews make my day!**


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